


The Sins In Our Blood, The Fire in Our Souls

by God_of_The_Faithless



Category: Original Work, Vampire Knight (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Kaname Kuran, Background Relationships, Blood Bond, Blood Drinking, Canon-Typical Violence, Deus Ex Machina, Drama & Romance, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Grief/Mourning, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Time Travel, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2020-12-21 08:16:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21071771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/God_of_The_Faithless/pseuds/God_of_The_Faithless
Summary: Zero inexplicably finds himself in the past, all is not what it seems. His world is overturned by the blood bond he had formed unknowingly with Kaname Kuran. Zero struggles to tread unknown waters that threaten to drown his tired heart.





	1. You, My Darling, My beautiful disaster

**Author's Note:**

> Before you start reading, you should know, this is my first fanfiction. Leave a Kudos if you like my work! 
> 
> I have no idea on how the plot is going to go. I have no fucking clue. I mean that. I am literally making up each word as I go. So the plot is as much a surprise to me as it is to you, kind stranger. 
> 
> English is not my mother tongue, I repeat it's not my first language. Take it easy on me please. 
> 
> Also, if you don't like my story or something I had written has offended you, please fuck off, I have no tolerance against trolls, or just plain haters who cannot offer constructive criticism. If you feel like you have to spew your bullshit at me. Feel free, go ahead. But remember. I. Don't. Give. A. Flying. Fuck. 
> 
> The rest of you wonderful people I hope you enjoy~
> 
> Also the characters may seem a little OC as I am more familiar with Kaname and Zero from fanfics. Honestly I like them better.  
I can't stand Yuuki Cross. But no unnecessary bashing will be there. 
> 
> Events that take place in the anime and manga may be out of order, but I will make sure it doesn't cause too much confusion, if any.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight in any way shape or form. If I did Yuuki Cross would have had an unfortunate accident leading to her untimely demise.

Zero opened his eyes with a quiet gasp, eyes hazy with sleep, the colours merged into indistinct shades and shadows, formless.

The world slowly came into focus after a few seconds. Zero realized with a start that it was decidedly not his room back in the sun dorms, where he had fallen asleep. 

Zero froze, muscles tensing as he laid still, his senses going haywire as the wrongness of the situation threatened to drown him.

He took in a shuddering breath willing himself to calm down. After a few moments he quietly took note of the room he was in, it looked familiar. 

With a sinking feeling of dread, Zero rose from the bed to a sitting position, his eyes immediately tracking the movement his legs made under the sheets.

They were smaller, much smaller than he remembered.

With growing trepidation, he flung the covers off him, noting his smaller hands and fingers, only to see a complementary pair of legs for his child sized hands.

Zero cursed under his breath, closing his eyes. Zero cradled his aching head desperately hoping this was just a nightmare, not real.

Zero snapped his eyes open suddenly, looking at the familiar walls, a dressing table at the far right, book selves arranged opposite to it.

White curtains fluttering as the large windows were open, letting in the cooling evening breeze. Zero instinctively turned to gaze out.

There stood a lone Sakura tree.

Her blossoms of pink beneath the moonlight were shining a splendour, and from each of the countless flowers a dew of silver light was ever falling, and the earth beneath was dappled with the shadows of her fluttering petals.

The torrent of petals casting a spell forlorn and dizzying.

Zero watched dazed as he fell under her bewitchment. His chaotic mind going blank in the serenity. Just as quick as feeling overcame him, it passed.

His whole world came to screeching stop, _this_, this was his room, _had been_ his room, but how is that possible, no, no, _no_, _not possible_.

He must be dreaming yes that’s it, a _dream_. But the excuse felt weak, even in the confines of his mind. 

His hands clenched into tight fists, white knuckled, causing a sharp pinprick at the point of contact.

Startled, Zero looked at his palms, he had dug his nails down hard enough to draw blood, but more importantly, it hurt.

Zero remained frozen as a cacophony of emotions hit him all at once, disbelief, sorrow, desperation, joy, hope and more, so much more, all weaving in and out merging into something heavy and light.

Zero felt the ever-bleeding heart of his twist in pain, the wound never healed.

Zero envied those who wore their emotional scars whilst his refused to scab over and let time make it an easier burden to bear. 

His wouldn’t leave a trace, scar not when the ache ever bled anew. 

Zero hesitatingly, slipped down the bed, his body trembling with barely suppressed emotion. He took small steps towards the dresser, he stared down at his feet fascinated by them.

They were small, cute and beautiful, with tiny toes, looking like a changeling’s feet.

His eyes trailed up his legs, they were thin, sculpted but had that childlike quality only a child could have.

He flexed his fingers, they were long and slender, the callouses of his older self was missing, they were delicate and misleading, about what those tiny hands were capable of.

His nails were a pale pink and lilac at the bottom and slowly paled to match his snow-white skin, flawless, soft and beautiful.

The chronic, ever present pain of bloodthirst, and the pain that he used to have, without Kuran’s blood running through his veins, when he was degenerating to a level E was absent.

He noted that he was wearing a long white shirt that almost reached his knees, the size obviously larger than his frame, and a pair black shorts that barely managed to peak out of the white.

He had always liked the comforting feeling of his body being cradled in a cocoon, it brought peace to his mind.

So, he preferred loose and baggy clothing in the privacy of his room.

He marvelled at what he saw for a few more moments, curious and fixated.

Once he reached the dresser though, he lifted his head up slowly at first then resolutely,

he was Zero _fucking_ Kiryuu, damn it!

and he was never a coward and he won’t start now.

He gazed wide eyed at the reflection before him, there was a boy around maybe ten, if you were pushing it, that stared back at him.

His silver hair sleep muzzled, large amethyst eyes looking innocently back at him.

They shined prettily, shifting into darker and lighter hues.

They had a childlike innocence about them but a hint of pain and sorrow reflected back when you stared deep into those hypnotic depths.

Those eyes made all want to coddle the child, and flourish him with kisses and hugs and gifts.

His nose was delicate and dainty, was slightly flushed a gorgeous rosy pink pale but lovely, at the elegant tip, begging to be flicked.

His angular, beautiful cheeks flushed the same rose, still had a hint of baby fat that endeared him and tugged at the heartstrings.

Rose petals for lips that were perfectly plump, coloured with gradients of rose shimmering. 

He flinched at the familiar but _wrong_ sight before him. Zero dropped to his knees, finally losing strength to hold them up any longer.

Zero thought distractedly dazed, ‘_I am going to see them?_’

He pulled his knees to his chest, laughter escaped him at the absurd situation he found himself in, his bell like laughter tinkled but was quiet so as to not disturb any other occupants in the house.

He was not ready to meet them, _any of them_, not when he was already on the verge of a breakdown, his eyes burned at the thought of seeing his parents alive, whole and breathing.

His brother, he didn’t know what he felt for him anymore, he undoubtedly still loved Ichiru, but it wasn’t so simple anymore, not with what he now knows.

Not when he suffered through the nightmare crafted by his twin, not when he was subjected to his cruel machinations. 

Remembering the past had him rising to his feet, heart thundering, hope surging through him in waves. He looked at the electronic clock and calendar by his bedside.

The hope that had blossomed, withering, ashes and smoke, the taste of blood and death on his tongue.

His eyes dimmed, when he realized with a start it was today, the day when it all went to hell. In fact, the time mockingly ticked away just minutes before he had gone down _to see_

his parents dying, dead. dead. _dead_. 

With blood making the scene even more macabre.

_to see_

Her, beautiful like a cherry blossom lying in wait for him, to come and witness her revenge.

Ichiru hiding away, so he could utterly destroy Zero when they do meet, giving him hope and mercilessly shattering it, disillusioning him when he realizes his twin, his other half had aided in their parent’s demise.

He understood Shizuka, he really did, after all that he had gone through, he knows, always did but had refused to acknowledge that the world wasn’t in black and white.

It had been so much easier to blame purebloods, vampires for all that went wrong in his life, but now he accepted the truth of the world.

Shizuka’s lover had done no wrong, he fell in love with a pureblood, and she with him. They were in love, but their love had been marked a crime, something not meant to be. 

Zero had ruminated over it, he had been disgusted at the thought of love between the two very different races, between vampire and human, between predator and prey.

Now, well now he is ashamed for not thinking on his own, to allow other’s prejudices to become his own. 

He is still uncomfortable, and couldn’t stand the thought of that happening to him. Except, He swallowed, maybe …

'_Yuuki'_, a voice traitorously whispered in his ear.

Stop. Stop. _Stop_.

Yuuki’s image faded when a surge of incensed anger sparked angrily from the side of his neck where his seal had been.

Then _Kaname Kuran_’s perfect _perfect_ face came to the forefront of his mind, his eyes glazing in pleasure at the sight. 

He remembered the sin inscribed blood of the pureblood of purebloods, the way it slid down his throat, power strumming through the decadent liquid supernova.

It had left him aching, for something, something _more_. One of the many reasons he detested drinking from him. 

Zero thought his longing is for the blood, _only_ for blood, it was after all one of a kind.

He ignored that foreboding feeling that he was missing something very important. 

He had a sinking feeling that, he was falling into something that would spiral out of his control.

Getting caught in an intricate web that tangled with deceptively gossamer silk, that held him down, pulled him and sucked him into something _glorious_ and terrifying.

_Bloodlust_, he decided. 

He was going mad, already.

He had no idea what was happening, all he knew was it was because of Kaname _fucking_ Kuran.

The feedings were nothing but something that had to be done to ensure his precious girl’s safety for that bastard.

He was such a _bastard_.

‘Kuran has his eyes only for Yuuki’, he thought bitterly.

A twinge of pain seared his heart, the heartburn had tears threatening to escape his burning eyelids. 

He was already half chained to one and it was _killing_ him.

He couldn’t imagine Shizuka’s pain if this is what it felt like when blood was willingly exchanged without any feelings, except hatred and distrust involved.

How she felt when she lost her mate was something that he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. 

He should hate Kuran.

He does. He _does_.

‘_Mate_’, his vampiric side longingly whispered, but Zero was too engrossed in his own misery, to take note of it.

Zero was always dismissive of that part of him. He had gotten so adept at dismissing it over the years, it was not even white noise at this point. 

If he knew what was going to happen, he would have rethought his stance on that.

Zero licked his increasingly dry lips. The familiar longing growing in him as the thirst gnawed at him. This thirst that warped him, it was for _Kaname_, _always for Kaname_.

Even after his body accepted blood tablets, his thirst remained unsatiated as if it wasn’t enough.

Only Kaname was, what was even more concerning was how unappealing and aversive even a fleeting thought of any other blood was, even Yuuki’s. 

He snarled at his pathetic behaviour.

If there hadn’t been the crippling thirst and hunger hounding his every step.

If he hadn’t been so consumed by his rage and grief, his pursuit for vengeance. He could have grown to love Yuuki.

Kuran had made his displeasure on any such development clear, violence thinly repressed in every contour of his body as he warned Zero of the consequences.

Exactly what were those consequences Zero had no clue.

Zero had the oddest feeling the ire was not directed at him, but it was the only reason that made sense. well, whatever.

Kuran’s blood, it was the most exquisite elixir, there were no words to describe it.

Zero had been stunned into oblivion at the first sip. It felt like liquid ambrosia, though Zero felt that was a grave understatement, almost an insult. 

Zero would never admit to that, even under the pain of death.

Zero had always felt out of it after his riled up senses had been sated, overindulged on the purest blood.

His dazed drunk eyes taking in Kuran in all his glory and feeling satisfaction, and warmth. 

Zero would catch himself just in the nick of time, before his thoughts could jump headfirst into that rabbit hole.

He knew whatever lay in there will most likely destroy the little control he has over his life. And so, he did what he did best. He ignored it. 

Denial and avoidance, every time he saw Kuran, every time he fed from him, every time his mind traitorously drifted to him.

Though the relationship between him and Kuran had become … _something_ other than just hatred at the other’s existence, it still was indefinable.

Zero supposes they had just reached an understanding and were working towards the same goal, keep Yuuki safe, and thus tolerated each other. 

What was that saying again?

Ah yes. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

‘That’s it Zero. Nothing more nothing less.’

He was still a fucking bastard.

If Zero ever got a chance he would put a bullet through his brain.

But just as the thought entered his mind, his body burned as if hellfire ran through his veins instead of blood.

He grabbed the dresser to steady himself. Zero gritted his teeth, as the pain threatened to destroy him inside out.

This always happened when he thought stuff like that. 

_'The hell?'_

He cursed his level D status once more, he was so preoccupied, he didn’t notice that there was something wrong with that statement.

He desperately avoided any and all thoughts.

He buried them deep in his mind. Out of sight, out of mind.

Though the box had weighed almost impossibly so. It looked like the floodgates would open at any time.

Whereas Kuran did not seem to be affected in the least. Still being impassively blank, unruffled. Looking completely untouched by whatever was plaguing Zero. 

He knows now it was reaching the time to go down and play out his nightmare once again, but there was something wrong, wrong, _wrong_.

Before he realized, the world tilted and spun, just colours and shadows, impressions that were becoming alarmingly abstract.

His heartbeat was pounding in his ears, blood rushing to his head, the world staggered and his vision blacked in and out.

He heaved, vomiting blood, it felt as if his body was on fire, the only saving grace was that, the pain was not as much as the one he felt when he thought of Kuran’s untimely demise at his hands.

The wave of nausea so intensive it lurched his body forward, doubling over himself as the blood clawed its way up against the back of his sore throat.

He brought a clammy palm to his mouth, to stop the warm rush of blood gurgling up his throat.

It proved to be futile as he choked on his own blood, finally coughing it out.

His body slid down, he vaguely wondered if this was how he was going to die. 

‘_Fitting_’, he thought. Dying where his nightmare began. Come full circle. 

He was tired, so tired, his eyes felt heavy.

‘It wouldn’t be so bad if he just closed his eyes for a second, right?’, Zero thought dazed. 

His heartbeat slowed down and finally came to a stop, his body going cold.

There was something wrong. _Very wrong_, though.

Zero’s consciousness remained awake and alert and seemingly alive.

This realization had Zero struggling against the cage his body had become. 

Zero was alive, inexplicably alive, his half-mast eyes glazed, looking dead for all the world but they saw, _oh how they saw_.

He was baffled, and panic set in, as he screamed at his body to move, twitch, to do something, _anything_.

Zero has never liked being caged, _never_.

He would rather die than be strung along.

He was done with not being in control of his life, his actions anymore.

Shizuka must have gotten tired of waiting at this point, as the door was flung open from its fringes. 

The unmistakable aura of a pureblood charged through like a raging bull.

Shizuka had smelt blood and had decided to see why, as it was coming from the older Kiryuu twin’s room. 

She knelt beside Zero’s prone still form, and caressed his cheek curiously. 

She had already realized he was gone one way or another, when there was no longer a heartbeat upstairs.

She supposed Zero had managed to run away and had been eager to hunt down the child, as her eyes filled with madness and bloodlust.

The twin couldn’t have managed to go far, and she was a pureblood, it would have been an exercise in futility.

Therefore, she was surprised and disappointed, when she passed through the threshold to see the twin dead, in a pool of his own blood, his pretty rose petal lips dyed red.

Shizuka scanned the room for any intrusions, any clue so as to the cause of Zero’s death.

Someone had taken her prey.

‘Who?’

Who had the _audacity_ to take away the madly blooming princess’s prey?

Shizuka would collect that debt.

She couldn’t find any breaking and entry, it had been a silent assailant, they definitely knew what they were doing. 

She gazed mournfully either at the lost chance at her revenge or simply because she genuinely felt sad at the passing of a child, especially a child of such potential.

He would have been the perfect servant, a hunter serving a pureblood.

His parents would have been suitably horrified. It would have been worse than death. 

She made sure to inform the hunter couple about her plans for their precious Zero before killing them off.

Their helplessness and despair had soothed the ache her lover had left behind for a moment, just for a moment.

A pureblood’s love is for forever, even in death, and he will always be hers, and she, his. 

Zero was looking right at Shizuka, caged in his unmoving seemingly dead body.

She was just as she always had been, beautiful in the way purebloods are, except of course Kuran, but that’s to be expected, Kuran was more God than pureblood.

Her crazed eyes still carrying a childlike innocence, he mourned for her, she had loved, and had suffered, driven mad for her lost love.

He understood.

He watched as she eyed him with curiosity and then regret, before they flashed with sadistic glee at her revenge.

Her face had then morphed into an expression of such overflowing love and sorrow, the look sent despair to course through him arresting his thoughts, same as his body. 

He hoped she found some solace in his parent’s death.

Though it seemed unlike him to think so, to actually sympathize with the pureblood that toyed with him and destroyed his life.

He still felt all he had ever felt for her, though they had muted down. 

He pities her now, the pity merging into the pool of emotions that Shizuka’s revenge had festered and created in him.

It merged to create something darker, that settled heavily on his chest. 

His thoughts drifted to his parent’s downstairs, broken and dead, with the red of their blood painting them in a strangely beautiful way.

A tribute from a crazed childlike woman to her beloved, her eternal flame.

He grieved for his lost parents; they were unaware as they spun in the web of unknown players in the dark.

He grieved his brother, was sorry for the misplaced anger and hatred in him that had devolved him into what he now was. 

Footsteps were heard, interrupting his thoughts.

Before a head full of silver hair similar to the one lying in the room, with the edges tinged red, soaked in blood, took a peek in.

Lavender eyes widened at the sight of his twin, before gleeful laughter resounded taking a manic tinge.

The small body of the sickly twin came closer to gloat, to revel in his wish come true, the wide smile distorting the child’s face into something ungodly.

Ichiru laughed, laughed and _laughed_.

Zero. Zero. _Zero_. His other _half_. His _better_ half. Lay there dead in a pool of his own blood.

Ichiru had loved Zero. Had loved him _so very much_. 

Just as Zero did. He loved him a lot.

But his parents had to go and ruin it for him and Zero.

Tsk. Tsk. _Tsk_. Poor. _Poor_ Zero, dead because their parents couldn’t keep their mouths shut.

Ichiru’s small frame racked under the force of his laughter.

Zero felt his broken heart break all over again, as he saw the pure unadulterated joy his twin was expressing.

Zero felt pain anew, his brother really did hate him, just as much as he loved Ichiru. 

Shizuka tilted her eyes to gaze piercingly at Ichiru.

Ichiru was too far gone, to feel her heavy gaze. The amused smile on her pretty cherry blossom lips, disappeared slowly.

And a look of quiet contemplation entered her eyes as they narrowed at Ichiru, lips twisting into a frown.

This didn’t escape Zero’s notice, he panicked at that.

How could Ichiru leave his guard down so thoroughly around Shizuka?

She may seem sane, but she is most definitely not.

That makes her more dangerous, _unpredictable,_ she is also a pureblood on top of that. 

But Shizuka made no move to attack, though the displeased expression remained.

Shizuka understood Ichiru, and she had used that to her advantage.

Such a golden opportunity to annihilate his parents. She didn’t even have to manipulate the child.

There was enough hate and resentment in the child, that it surprised her.

She knew he felt inferior to his twin.

And she completely agreed, indeed, he was inferior in terms of his twins in every way.

Now Zero, _Zero_ had been the _prize_, her spoils from the war. Ichiru had been her _weapon_ of choice.

To maximize their parents’ pain, she wanted them in _agony_.

And how the hunter couple had despaired, disbelief and denial shinned wetly through their eyes at the revelation of her darling weapon. 

But she had lost her prize, though the couple died thinking she will get her claws and fangs sunk in the fragile, _fragile_ neck, marking him and turning him into a vampire.

They had flinched at that, horror tracing their features at the prospect. 

Oh well, she had played with their minds saying if she was feeling merciful, she would just dispose of Zero, just _maybe._

Hearing them beg was music to her ears, their pleas still sent a pleasant thrill down her spine.

Therefore, she was displeased at Ichiru’s laughter.

She lost what she wanted, but Ichiru will be safe with her. He had after all, made her vengeance that much sweeter.

But she hoped, he wouldn’t display this kind of behaviour again. She might just send him six feet under.

She will have to train him. Her eyes sparkled in delight at the thought.

‘A butler?’, he will grow up to look handsome, maybe even to the level of a noble vampire. Kiryuu’s were always too beautiful for a human, a hunter. 

Zero quietly watched the now silent figure of his brother and Shizuka.

Ichiru gazed unnervingly at the still body in front of him, as if trying hard to commit every single detail in his memory.

Zero felt numb and tired after all the shit that happened. Now. Then.

‘I guess, it’s a sad state of affairs, if he can’t remember a feeling not tainted by pain, hate and rage and despair’, Zero thought mockingly.

He couldn’t muster the usual bottle of emotion, his need for vengeance and spite, his drug of choice, the painkiller that numbed him, that gave him the will to edge out the pain, and _live_.

Something shifted in Zero. Zero looked warily at the still figures before him.

Zero felt something curious, he hoped it was his body awakening from the strange state it was in, just so he could die quickly instead of being subjected to this cruel show fate put forth for him.

No, it was not what he hoped, it felt as if a vacuum had opened inside Zero within his mind, his consciousness.

And a familiar voice, but he couldn’t place exactly where he had heard it before, who it was.

The magnetic, angelic symphony of the low, seductive voice pleasantly rang in his mind, he felt safe. 

“Who? Who is it?”, Zero whispered in his mind, feeling drunk on the high the presence of the voice left in him.

The voice made him feel safe, it was warm, _so warm_, _so right_. 

Zero felt a nagging suspicion he should know who this was, right from the get go, but he couldn’t muster the energy to think.

The voice echoed again, it sent a pleasant thrill through his soul,

“_Mate.”_

Zero listened hypnotized, _yes_ this was his _mate_, he’s safe now.

“Now I can rest. I am _safe_.” 

Zero mumbled tired. Not realizing the significance of his thought, they slipped from his grasp like a fleeting flutter of a butterfly’s wing.

An otherworldly chuckle resounded at Zero’s thoughts, fascinating Zero. 

Then, something in front of him caught his attention again.

He saw in detached horror, which got buried under the tide of contentment, as a stream of light from Ichiru drifted towards him and into him, getting sucked into the void.

Zero vaguely noted surprised, that there was no reaction from neither Shizuka or his brother.

It seemed as if only Zero could see and _feel_ it. 

Zero felt unadulterated pain that jostled him from his daze, as the light slowly seeped into him, he would have screamed if he could.

He fell back into incoherence at the pain. 

The soothing voice cooed at him, hushing him with reassurances, the voice sounded pained at his suffering.

Zero immediately wanted to sooth the voice’s pain, but he did not know how. The voice lulled him, cradled him gently in its velvet, honeyed folds.

He laid there taking every last bit of the light before it all disappeared.

Ichiru didn’t look any different, he obviously hadn’t felt anything. 

Shizuka stared down at Zero for a long while, making Ichiru angsty and jealous.

‘_Of course_, Zero would always be better than me even in death’, Ichiru thought bitterly.

Shizuka finally turned and left, with Ichiru following close at her heel without a backward glance. 

“Shh, I just took back what was yours love. It’s alright darling, I will be there soon.”, the voice said quietly. 

Zero lay there, still and silent, for what could have been seconds, minutes, or hours, quietly introspecting, acknowledging, grieving, mourning, accepting all that had happened in his life.

Zero felt his usual hostility come back after he shook himself from his daze, alarmed at the unknown voice, but it was familiar, too familiar to be a stranger’s.

Zero instincts soothed him. Chanting, Safe. Safe. _Safe_.

He hadn’t grieved properly before, couldn’t allow himself to.

Now, now he truly had nothing left, he was tired.

He finally let go of all the grief and rage bottled inside him. At least for now.

He waited, and waited for the sweet release of death to take him in its cold embrace. 

He drifted slowly, losing his ability to think, to do anything when all that was left was bone weary exhaustion. 

No, _Mate_, my mate will be sad if I leave, so no. no. _no_. I don’t him to be sad.

He distinctly heard his vampire mutter something, probably something about blood, Zero thought already slipping into oblivion.

“_I’m close, wait for me_”, the voice whispered.

He waited.

Zero eyes fluttered shut, as he fell into a deep slumber, he vaguely realized he could move his body. But that fleeting thought fluttered away.

* * *

Kaname lounged on his throne like chair behind his desk, his appearance wholly unnatural and divine.

His beautiful locks of sunset merged with midnight sky creating a shade of mahogany so magnificent, that it was indescribable.

They tumbled down like a waterfall, in ringlets and waves all made of sensual design, lustrous and tousled. 

They framed his ethereal face, divinity in each stroke, masterfully crafted in reverence, the edges, sharp and soft, curves and angles, painstakingly designed, to create his godly visage, one that is otherworldly, and without compare forever more.

His perfectly sculpted nose was aristocratic, his cheeks, angled, high and inhuman in their contour, so angelic, and the shadows cast by them, creating a deliciously wicked light to his sinful appearance.

His lips were temptation in gorgeous strokes, a shade of rose that bordered red, mingling with the beautiful sunset twilight pallet of the gods, that was his flawless skin, to create ever shifting, glistening lips that held the attention of all when he spoke, his smile a breath taking spectacle as rare as it is.

His eyes were the masterstroke of the perfection incarnate, they were glowing embers of molten lava and blood, darkened in the shades of lore and myth, fliting with colours unknown, and immaterial, inexplicable from the stars and beyond.

His eyes were magnetic, ever changing, captivating even the sightless when under his gaze.

They swirled and sucked all into those bottomless depths the sclera, white and pristine, complementing the wonderous concoction of his gaze. 

Those eyes ruined the souls beyond redemption in their gluttonous worship of him.

His enthralling eyes were framed by a thick, ethereal silk, crafted with the jewelled sky.

They hid his immobilising stare, to allow all else to take a breath in in their breathless reverence, that remained chocked by his beauty. 

His body was seduction and beauty, sin and perfection incarnate, the fine lines that sculpted and carved, that penned a holy and ungodly thrall on every minuscule part, where lust seemed to shy away from his presence, unworthy of him.

Too simple an emotion, for the feeling it invokes. 

Each curve and edge, every nook and cranny, the result of unspeakable labour of the universe to allow a celestial vessel for the being’s transcendent power divine, and immeasurable, all encompassing, omnipotent and omnipresent. 

Kaname took a deep breath, the only sound in the otherwise silent room, as his elegant neck sparked and ached in equal parts, sending a lance of pleasure and pain every few seconds.

Kaname pursed his lips agitated, at the foreign feeling, the beast within him prowled silently, raising his hackles at the calm sure way it did.

It was expecting, wanting, _needing_ something, and he was yet to figure out what.

His eyes burned in garnet flames, igniting in desire for something.

Kaname was taken aback by this peculiar feeling, his thirst was unlike any he had felt in his long existence, he was utterly baffled.

Kaname then downed another glass of artificial blood, thirst so unbearable he didn’t wait for the blood tablets to completely dissolve. 

Takuma had noticed his restlessness and had offered his blood, gently as a pureblood in the brink of bloodlust was dangerous and Kaname’s more so.

Kaname had his own misgivings on that, but he had finally yielded when his aura started escaping his tight control.

It wouldn’t do to release even a small fraction, lest anyone realises just how much beyond a pureblood he was. 

But when Takuma had lent down to bare his neck, Kaname’s beast and instincts went haywire, growling and clawing at his insides that how dare he even _think_ of feeding from anyone other than _his mate_.

The brand on his neck, a pinprick of warmth and bliss, and pain and longing, burned in displeasure and punished him with venom running through his veins.

He had jerked away from Takuma like he was about to commit a grievous sin, his mind grinding to a halt at the warmth in his neck and the word mate. mate. _mate_. 

The word had flited in his thoughts, and had felt like a _fact_.

He had almost beheaded Takuma in his preoccupation when the beast and his instincts had surged forth to violently _kill maim_ this insolent _insect _that dared to have the _audacity_ to offer his blood.

He narrowly caught himself when his muscles tensed to do just that.

He had tersely dismissed Takuma, and warned him not to disturb him for a while as he was tired, and needed some time to rest.

Takuma nodded in understanding and fear. He made himself scarce. 

Kaname’s aura whipped around in agitation and obliterated the majestic desk in front of him, vapourising it to nothingness.

Kaname gritted his teeth at the display, he never lost control, it was something that he prided himself in.

And now, _now_ this was happening, his eyes darkened at the thought.

His mate? Where in the hell did, he get himself a _mate_?

In all his existence not once had anyone dared nor were, they allowed to have even a drop of _his_ blood.

Rido Kuran tried but that had backfired on him spectacularly, it was he who was devoured to the point of death. 

_How_ _Why _and_ Where_ were these thoughts coming from?

The rightness of the thought, of having a mate, infuriated him. He had to bite back a snarl.

‘I have a _mate_’, echoed maddeningly and smugly in his head.

Kaname had to compose himself at that. 

Kaname was nothing if not efficient, he compartmentalized all he was feeling at the moment.

Kaname thought curtly, ‘If I have a mate? who?’

Since the why is eluding his grasp for now. It was time to hone in on who his supposed mate is.

He stilled, breathless, ‘Was it Yuuki?’

Kaname stilled at the possibility, before it was shattered by his instincts blaring in annoyance and his beast warningly growled.

‘Not Yuuki, if not Yuuki who?’

This was such a mess, all his carefully laid plans can all be undone at this … this _complication_, he cannot let that happen at any cost.

‘Yuuki’s safety is the most important’, Kaname thought resolutely. 

Then his mind went blank with pain as a torrent of wrongness, pain, anger coursed through him.

Kaname staggered back into the chair. His mind taken over by his instincts completely.

Kaname vaguely hoped no one had the nerve to come up because he was not going to get back control anytime soon.

His beast’s sharp teeth and cruel claws were out and it wouldn’t hesitate to kill, anyone who isn’t his mate.

_What a mess_.

Kaname remained like that, as the sun set over the horizon, eyes glowing the most ethereal bright red, with stark desire and longing burning in them.

And that’s how he remained for a long time. 

The massive room that screamed grandeur and royalty, darkened as day gave way for night to set in.

It was eerily quiet as the room remained unlit by any source of light. 

The only discernable thing was Kaname, his flawless skin glowing with an ethereal light, it bewitched and seduced, the unnaturalness of this aspect lost in thrall of all that is Kaname Kuran.

His eyes remained the same vibrant red, embers filled with desire and longing, the gaze potent as a star’s core.

Suddenly, Kaname snapped his head in a seemingly random direction, the movement so fast it looked like no time had passed between the shift in position.

His mind fixated on the emotions bleeding in, merging with his.

He narrowed his eyes at the torrent of emotions of pain, despair and hopelessness, it left him speechless at the intensity of his mate’s emotions.

He had realized it had been his mate’s the moment the emotions trickled in, Kaname was calculative and shrewd.

It would have been insulting if he was caught off guard a second time. 

Kaname growled, his mate was seriously contemplating something _wrong, so very wrong_, as resignation coloured the emotions slowly but surely. 

He may not know who his mate is, how they even became a mated pair, but they were _his_, his in a way he had only dreamt of, he wasn’t going to lose them, not even to themselves.

Kaname’s possessiveness lit the fire in the beast’s belly as it growled its approval.

Kaname knew a blood bond, a mating bond, the most sacred and powerful was never formed out of mere chance nor any other reason than destiny.

Your mate is the only person who has enough of you, _all of you_, to break your heart soul mind body and all that is you, they are perfect for you, whether this fact is acknowledged or not.

Kaname knows his mate didn’t come from nowhere, though it seemed like it, he knew his mate.

He felt the screen that blanketed his limitless mind, aware he was forgetting, like when there is something close yet hidden, yet at that moment unable to fathom what it could be.

He had an inkling this was the key to unravelling this mystery.

Kaname took a deep breath, before he closed his glowing eyes, he reaching for the emotions welling into him, grasping it softly afraid of hurting his fragile mate.

He followed it to a chasm of warmth, pleasure, affection and all things nice, lovely and _beautiful_. 

Kaname fell into the pool of gold to his mate’s mind, he wanted to flit through the memories of his mate. He was curious, but there was time for it still.

Kaname was in awe, wondering how one so fragile and tiny could hold such raw power and emotion. His mate was pouring forth an outburst of emotions, dismal, sombre, heartbreak and tears.

The _passion _that coloured his every emotion, the _anger _born of pain and sadness ignited by love, the spite, the _defiance_, the recklessness, such a curious mix of contradictions, they left Kaname flummoxed and in a loss for words.

He had more pressing matter in hand, like knocking some sense into his ‘resigned to death’ mate. He clenched his teeth at the thought.

Kaname sighed as he slowly encompassed his mate with his aura imbuing his mate _completely _seeping into _every_ pore.

His soul singing at each touch fleeting yet bone piercing as shudders and tremors ran through him.

Kaname felt tendrils of pleasure zap through him as he marked his mate inside out. His aura seethed wanting _his mate_ to _know_, to _feel_ being _marked_, to feel the signs of _his possession_.

Kaname traced the extremities _gently_, _lovingly_, _reverently_ as his aura painted the picture of _his_ beautiful _mate_. His exploration confirmed what Kaname had already _instinctively _known.

His beloved mate seemed to be a young child, a boy nearing ten.

He didn’t linger any further on the faint silhouette of his mate intentionally devoid of any detail.

He couldn’t afford to get distracted now.

He could if he wanted, see through his mate’s eyes to take stock of his mate’s surrounding but something urged him not to.

He slowly used his ever-growing power to reach and feel, _feel_ around.

He stopped at an out of place aura, other than the inferno that was his mate,

‘Wait what was that? A pureblood?’

The presence of blood and carnage around said pureblood, it was all over the place, it was crude, messy as if, there was barely suppressed rage inspiring the slaughter, alarmed him.

His eyes grew wide as he realized his mate was upstairs right above the pureblood.

And he knew the pureblood wasn’t done, they never were.

Countless plans forming in his mind to discard the pest and to keep his mate safe.

He chose the somewhat crude plan, that would guarantee the complete well being of his mate.

Kaname seldom used his powers, they were but another aspect that separated him from the rest of existence.

He, even in the direst of situations, wanted to attain victory with all the restrictions and limitations he imposed on himself.

Otherwise it would have been, well, it would have taken but a mere thought for him to attain all he wanted.

Sometimes, this charade he plays loses its luster, but he still remained in character though, never truly himself not when they marked him as _unknown_.

He knows he is not lonely, intellectually argue against it. But he was alone and will continue to be alone. But _this_ … _his mate_ changed _everything_.

He wasn’t alone anymore, not when he can feel the _beautiful_ _blaze of ever shifting starlight_ that was _his mate_, a _constant_ presence that soothed his lonely existence.

Kaname was ruthless, it was a well-established fact.

His gentle and polite disposition hid his merciless fangs and razor-sharp claws that won’t hesitate to rip out your heart while wearing an innocent benevolent smile.

He apologized to his mate mentally, still quiet so as to not startle his mate, and cause the pureblood to come up sooner.

He sent a small spike of pressure to his mate’s stomach, making sure it hurt as less as his frazzled mind could, to disorient his mate. 

Most of his concentration was spent on possible ways to eliminate the pureblood without drawing attention to himself, as rage welled up in him at the nerve of the pureblood to even think of harming a hair of _his_ mate, let alone _kill_ his _mate_.

His aura again morphed going through metamorphosis to suit each whim and fancy of his. Kaname had only felt resistance from his for the lack of a better word aura when concerning his mate.

It was desperate to reach his mate. Kaname sighed, these new experiences in succession were inspiring feelings and reactions that he didn’t realise he possessed. The lack of control again grating at his nerves.

Distractedly, he slowly drew blood from the blood vessels lining his mate’s stomach, until there was sufficient blood to seem as if, a lot of blood had been lost, but treading the fine line of _too much_.

His aura precise and efficient completing this extremely delicate process skillfully.

His fury mounted at the thought, his mate’s blood spilt but he couldn’t intervene directly, without drawing all sort of attention on not only himself but also his mate. simply _unacceptable_. 

Kaname felt _thirst_ unlike any he had ever known burn like the scorching sun as the pulsing, flowing life giving blood, _his mate’s blood_ at such close proximity.

He took in shuddering breath before disassociating further from his aura and instincts.

He pushed the blood up his mate’s throat, causing his stomach to automatically tighten.

His mate’s throat reflexively constricting as the warm blood made its way to the back of his throat, making him cough out blood, once. His mate then clamped down at his mouth.

Kaname had to use more force, that regrettably chocked his mate, as his mate coughed out rivulets of blood. 

He locked in his mate’s body, arresting any movement, down to micro expressions. His mate remained motionless, rigid.

Kaname’s aura relaxing the muscles and calming the physical systems of his mate so that he won’t go into shock or any other complications.

Kaname carefully enveloped his mate’s pulsing heart beating vibrantly, so full of life, that Kaname was for a moment, transfixed.

He shook himself out his daze and forged on, he slowly created a dimensional space conducive for a beating heart while making sure all arteries and veins remained connected to the beautiful organ.

Kaname was apprehensive as he felt the tidal wave of helplessness and despair from his mate.

Kaname had masked his presence because he had an inkling his mate would not appreciate it whatsoever as of this moment.

Kaname slowly covered his mate completely in his aura, creating a temporal displacement so his body remained as healthy as he had, with a beating heart still in place.

This allowed his mate to remain conscious with no outward movement. Body without a pulse with no movement internally and externally.

He paused uncertain, debating whether he should ease his mate to sleep.

His debate was cut short when he felt the pureblood come up the stairs and fling the door open.

He wanted to look through his mate’s eyes, but he refrained from doing so, something warned him against it.

His mate usual state was one of anger, recklessness, fire and defiance.

He would hate how much liberty Kaname had already taken even if it was to save his life.

‘How did I know that?’ 

Before Kaname could pursue that train of thought, he was brought back to reality by another presence approaching, a child’s, a weak one at that.

His eyes narrowed as he felt something that was decidedly, not the child’s inside the child. The aura was very similar to his mate’s.

He had taken just a cursory glance at his mate, in order to not get distracted at the task at hand.

But what he saw was enough to know, the child, _the thief_, had stolen something from his beloved. That won’t do, no not at all.

He will take it back and give it to his mate, as a courting gift.

There’s no reason he shouldn’t start now. He smiled wickedly at the thought.

Especially since that child had signed his death warrant, when his invisible aura that had hung around the entire house caught the laughter of pure glee at the sight, of his prone mate.

He was about smite the child right then and there.

Rage colouring his gaze blood red. But his mate’s strange reaction stopped him in his tracks. 

Earlier, He felt the curious mix of emotions that his mate had felt for the pureblood, he had almost, _almost_ decided that the pureblood was better off erased from existence.

While he still agreed with his assessment, doing so would disrupt the game already set in motion.

Taking care of all the variables would prove to be time consuming.

Therefore, he would let the pureblood be for now, he studied the pureblood’s aura so debts can be collected, all in due time.

_But what his mate felt for the child was concerning._

He was even more conflicted, he decided to reign in his retribution for now.

He did not know his mate, though that felt inaccurate, but he would wait till he got to know his mate better, before he makes his move.

He can’t be so reckless.

Kaname was disturbed at his loss of control, and the various emotions he was feeling.

His acceptance of this absurd situation, at having a mate, without any misgivings was already concerning.

This was unlike himself, so very unlike himself.

But the beast and the bond had taken over at the study, and were vigilant in keeping their strong hold.

Even though he was making the decision to aid his mate, it was still his primitive self in control, that urged him, commanded him to do so.

He always adapted to change, and circumstances with a startling ease.

So that is what he will do for now.

More research can take place when his mate was not in such a precarious situation, and when he was in full control of himself.

He ruminated over it for a second, but eased his way back to his mate’s emotional turmoil.

He felt the love, anger, resignation, self-deprecating emotions strumming through his mate in an avalanche of regret, longing and resignation and despair.

He did the same as he had done with the pureblood, studied the child’s aura, their days were numbered, he would make sure to destroy them, an example to all else.

He gently called out to his mate, hesitant.

He was surprised and smug at his mate’s instinctive thought.

“Now I can rest, I am safe”, his mate’s voice left him coursing with delight, it was lilting, beautiful, perfect, so pure, so very pure, they sounded perfect. Yes, perfect.

Satisfaction followed at his mate’s trust, he recognized it as something not freely given, rarer than a blood moon. It was that much more endearing and sacred.

Kaname distractedly thought,

‘Where do I get these thoughts from? It feels like I really do know my mate. Interesting’.

He filed the thought away for later.

He allowed himself to calm down and traced the hidden part of his mate in the child.

He slowly disconnected it from the child, without harming him, as his mate’s jumble of emotions made it unclear on what level of revenge, he should take on this child.

He slowly directed it into his mate slowly, it caused his mate to feel blinding pain. He startled for a moment, but he clenched his fists and continued on.

This had to be done now. Especially, with the child at such close proximity, he didn’t know when such an opportunity would arise again.

It would benefit his mate in the long run, and his mate’s body is still that of a child so the fissures would most probably heal without Kaname’s aid. 

His mate was horrified at the thin tendril of light in front of him.

Kaname cursed, he had allowed his aura to envelope his mate without making sure it remained masked of the supernatural effect it possess, at least the aura at this stage was but a fragment.

He shuddered at the thought of subjecting his mate either knowingly or unknowingly to any more power. He did not want his mate to be afraid of him.

He soothingly whispered, “Shh, I just took back what was yours love. It’s alright darling, I will be there soon”.

He felt his mate go through an array of emotions and a lifetime of pain, a nagging whisper,

‘His mate was a child, right?’

Then what’s with this burdensome pain that keeps bludgeoning into something the child was too young to have accumulated.

Just what had happened to his mate. He had a sinking feeling he was in for a surprise that would undo his rationale.

He felt the pureblood and the other child leave. He breathed out a sigh of relief at that. He kept the bond open soothing his mate to a deep slumber, before his raging eyes opened.

The study around him was utterly destroyed, everything was reduced to splinters and dust. He was thankful at least his destruction was contained within the study.

He absently waved a hand, and then the room reverted back to how it was, down to the last detail. Looking like it wasn’t just a decayed ruin a second ago. 

Kaname stood up and walked towards the large arched windows, and whispered to his mate, 

“I’m close, wait for me”

The elegant curtains swayed in the breeze shadowing Kaname for a time briefer than a second, then there was no trace of Kaname Kuran.


	2. Neither Time nor Space Could Keep Us Apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all I am so grateful for all the love and support my work has received thus far!  
Leave a Kudos if you like my work please!, give me something so that can validate my existence. 
> 
> Minions are welcome! (^_<)～☆ 
> 
> I really appreciate the kind words from the comment section down below! I see you!  
I love you all so much for taking the time to write down your thoughts! 
> 
> If my story is not something you like, or has somehow offended your sensibilities, you can always leave~  
Why would you waste your time and energy reading/commenting what you dislike/hate?  
I assure you, that you can find other works that are more to your taste!
> 
> Disclaimer: Seriously? Do I have to do this every time? ... Well I don't own Vampire Knight in any way shape or form ... really
> 
> P.s I think they way I have written this non linear. Don't say I didn't warn ya!  
P.P.s English is not my first language

A beautiful, warm looking house in the middle of the woods in parts unknown, lay devoid of signs of life.

The warmth seeping away as the night finally arrived, beaconing in the velvet of inky darkness.

They were dotted in with glowing stars that danced, to a song that eluded all that gazed up on their intricate movements, infinitely many as they were.

The tranquillity of the night heightened at the absence of bird song and fauna about, all caught in its quiet awe at the vastness of the spectacle above.

The lone house seemed to have taken part in the calm introspection of its viridian surroundings that were covered in still falling snow, such stark white it slowly enveloped all of nature, her colours slowly painted back into a blank canvas, unmarred and eerie.

This monochrome, setting stage to a portrait that reflected her charm, shaded in night and ice. 

Inside its deceptive façade, there laid a poetic, morose sight of the bright red that had flowed through their veins, the lifeblood, of the grotesquely dead couple, now dulling as its vitality was no more.

They remained undisturbed in death, peace and acceptance etched in their features. The tragedy of their passing darkening the once home with shadows too long, and darkness too sorrowful.

The only one alive was a small, fey like child with hair, a glimmering silver, and skin that looked as pale as the snow falling outside.

The child lay in circle of red, creating a distressing yet strangely beautiful image.

Then the night paused for but a moment, resuming its dreamlike lullaby when a silhouette stepped out of the darkness beside the sleeping child. Kaname looked as transcendent as ever, but his expression was one of desire and longing as he stared at Zero. Kaname stood still, the practised action of breathing forgotten in his wonder at Zero, his mate. Kaname slowly fell to his knees unconsciously, eager to close their proximity.

Kaname remained breathless, as he took in, drank in the sight of his mate.

The silver locks that looked like beams of starlight. The elegant nose, with the tip flushed at the cold. His gaze fell on the closed lavender silver lids under perfectly arched eyebrows. They were adorned with thick, curled silver that cast shadows on the high, aristocratic cheekbones.

Those cheeks were flushed roses and cream.

His mate’s rose petal lips gorgeously sculped, a dizzying, shifting rose and pink, were parted slightly in sleep.

Kaname swallowed.

His instincts were finally soothed at the sight.

He reached with a trembling hand, hesitant and when his fingertips grazed against those impossibly soft cheeks.

Kaname shuddered as a pure thrill of pleasure the act caused. Kaname was finally back in full control of himself. Kaname felt overcome with emotion, he was slowly being dragged into a sweeping tide within him.

He grimaced as he slowly enveloped all of the woods along with the house, he found himself in and shifted them into isolation. Nothing could leave without his permission nor could anything enter. The world continued to revolve around the zone blissfully unaware of the house in woods, forgotten erased from the collective consciousness.

Kaname felt the heartache burn slowly, creeping over him from the deepest part of his heart singeing his veins and igniting through his blood like a visceral flame.

Kaname slowly traced those closed eyes, those defiant eyes that captured him, the moment he laid his eyes on them.

***

Kaname remembered, remembered his Zero.

The memories that time and space could not pry away from him.

Zero, his beautiful Zero running towards him with rage and vengeance tensing his deceptively fragile body.

The utter fearlessness at confronting a pureblood, having the gall to stab him, to spill his blood with no worry for consequences, charmed him.

Kaname remembered the cruel words, antagonistic banter that had grown comforting and devoid of malice when they had to work together. Kaname remembered realising that Zero was his. Kaname had felt rage that threatened to drive him insane after finding out Zero had bitten Yuuki.

Yuuki not him.

The cruel, senseless massacre he wanted to leave behind, to show Zero how worthless any other was in the presence of him. He had wanted to kill Yuuki, more than that really, Kaname wanted to torture her within an inch of her life, to the end of eternity.

Kaname had flinched at the thoughts that still drifted in his mind, he had chosen to protect Yuuki out of duty and the detached fondness that came with time spent with her mother and father.

Now, Yuuki was becoming a thorn in his side.

Zero was his, but Kaname floundered and flailed around treading unknown waters, what he felt for Zero was maddening, obsessive and all consuming. There was nothing Kaname wouldn’t do, nothing he wouldn’t give to have Zero. Kaname bitterly saw his actions and façade push him away further from Zero.

His beautiful Zero remained unattainable, Kaname in desperation and possessive jealousy allowed Zero only to feed from him. Kaname never hated himself more. He had manipulated and hurt his mate knowing full well the damage his words would do, just so he could satisfy his selfish, monopolising desire.

Kaname held the desperate hope Zero would see, would feel the all-consuming love he had for him.

Wanted Zero to realise he loved Zero, all of Zero.

Kaname had felt the bond grow and grow, his desperation calming down when Zero let himself relax, let himself go in his presence.

Kaname saw how wonderous those rare moments were, Zero just being calm, defenceless and satisfied. Kaname had been taken by surprise at how right Zero’s bite had been. Kaname had never been bitten, it was something only for Zero, all for Zero.

The way Zero held onto him, grasping at the fabric above his chest as he buried himself closer against Kaname. The sensual display threatening to tear his considerable control and left him hurtling in a viscous ocean of desire and longing.

He had been worried when the time between feedings had shortened each time. He wanted to heal Zero, to shield him from all that ached him pained him but he knew Zero wouldn’t allow that yet.

Kaname felt the bond form, grow from a fledging to the vastness of the universe, as understanding and conversations of words unspoken, feelings unrealised, acceptance, love and passion occurred in those blissful moments where Zero was unguarded, vulnerable as he slowly, gently drank from him.

Kaname knew that no one aside from him had the privilege to see Zero like this. The unknowing trust Zero placed in him, sending him through a whirlwind of emotions of hope, love, adoration and devotion.

Kaname had been smug and delighted when Zero’s soft cheeks would flush a slight rose when Zero caught sight of him, those prettily flushed cheeks and those darting amethyst eyes, that would seek him out only to widen and shy way as Kaname’s burning gaze held his, cheeks flushing a brighter red.

The sight would have Kaname’s heart stuttering to a stop, tripping over like a lovesick fool.

Kaname had wanted to cease his opportunity and make Zero his, one way or another.

But he loved Zero,

how he loved him, the kindness behind those reckless fingers, the curiosity that shined through those gorgeous orbs when he found something interesting.

Kaname could wait, wait for Zero forever, if that was to be the case. 

Zero was falling for him, and that was already so much more than Kaname dared to hope for. Zero loved him, Kaname was sure of that. But Zero was headstrong and remarkably oblivious when it came down to it.

It left Kaname frustrated and as with everything that was Zero, it endeared him to Zero.

Kaname loved Zero.

***

The memories came in snapshots as the colours and images unfurled making his eyes glaze over as he relived them all. Kaname could feel that somethings were missing but he cared not for them at the moment.

Kaname’s every thought was occupied by Zero as he fell in love all over again. It was strange, frightening even, on how completely enraptured he was with Zero. Kaname felt the bond spread in lazy circles from his neck as he stared unmoving at the beautiful silver haired angel of his, encased in a tomb of tempting, luscious blood that called to Kaname.

Kaname felt the thirst clawing and shredding his insides as the desire to taste but a drop of his beloved’s blood arose in him. But Kaname could never do such a thing without the consent and awareness of his mate.

‘This is surreal’,

Kaname thought, absently stroking his mate’s face.

Kaname had to think now, not stare spellbound like he wanted too. Kaname growled at that, the sound shattering the silence that had settled.

Zero frowned, still asleep but something in him aware wanted to soothe the displeasure that seeped in him. His face leaning into those perfect flawless fingers, that let a trail of need, want, warmth, comfort, and all things nice, right through him. He signed at the feeling, falling back into the formless darkness that he was cocooned in.

Kaname knew today was going to be difficult to say the least.

It was the day Zero learnt the cruel reality of this world.

He wished Zero didn’t have to go through this again, he already bore the burden of this night everyday thereafter. Kaname knows he dragged Zero into the game because he had underestimated his own feelings for the hunter.

Kaname wanted Zero’s attention on him, even if it was a hate filled, suspicious gaze on him. Zero saw his true nature, and thus the means and decisions he took didn’t come as a surprise.

Not when Zero always expected the worst from a pureblood.

He had wanted Zero to understand he would never put him through any pain even at the cost of himself.

Yuuki had shied away from him, during the entire fiasco with Rido Kuran. Even though it was for her safety. It was ironic really, the one who preached Kaname was a danger to Yuuki, understood why he did it and accepted him in spite of what he did.

Zero didn’t show the deference and respect that everyone else subconsciously afforded him.

In fact, Zero’s very colourful expletives never failed to shock and offend his subjects on his behalf.

The devil may care attitude of his darling Zero always amused him and lit his desire anew. He had to stop himself from kissing those scowling lips swollen, flushed red at the meticulous attention Kaname would pay them. Teasing out sounds that would be swallowed by Kaname pressing hotter, fiery kisses, demanding, igniting, taking with a desperation and insatiable hunger. 

Kaname shook himself from his daydream and concentrated back on the issue on hand.

Zero was going to need him to anchor him, that is, if he doesn’t start questioning Kaname and the possibility of him ignoring Kaname entirely was more than a possibility.

Kaname sighed helpless to go forward with anything.

Kaname gently gathered Zero in his arms, his heart thudding away at their close proximity, love and affection shinning through his enchanting eyes. He lowered himself to the ground placing Zero’s body in lap, with his cheeks pressed against his chest, knowing from the countless feeding that left Zero in a rare peace, Zero felt comfort from his beating heart, the same as he did.

Kaname felt the quickening of his heart, the song that hummed in his soul, the bond that surged and danced covering Kaname and Zero, making auroras of euphoria course through them.

Zero always invoked the most honest responses from him, Kaname let the quiet breaths and the stubborn heat of his Zero sooth him into a trance at the rhythmic beat.

Kaname stroked comforting circles and caresses across Zero’s back and the fingers that were splayed across the expanse of Zero’s cheek, left feather light touches smoothing the frown around Zero’s eyebrows.

Zero felt the weight that had settled on him when they world grew foggier and sleep embraced him in her comforting arms. Sleep that for a time unmarred by the reflection of his life.

Zero then felt the suffocating barrel of emotions that stayed with him press down on his heart, almost caving in. Zero didn’t want to wake, he knew what was waiting for him when he did.

He had hoped for death, tired, too tired to live through the painful years that followed that tugged and pulled at him every which, fate’s cruel design spiralling him down and down and down.

But Zero was not broken, couldn’t allow himself too.

He held onto the dredges of life clawing and digging with a ferocity that scared even him.

Zero could never bring himself to end it all, he tried to envision it just once but Kaname Kuran’s horrified broken face accosted his vision, making him flinch away from the thought as if a bolt of lightning strike coursed through him.

The pure heartbreak, and accusing eyes froze him down the spot.

Zero was irritated with himself, why on earth would Kaname Kuran care if he lived or died.

The familiar pain building up from the brand in his neck. He should really see what that was all about, when he wakes.

Zero didn’t want to.

Zero wanted to forget even if just for moment as he sunk back into the darkness.

The burning heat hugging him close felt like how he imagined a cloud would feel. It was comforting, safe and the lines pressing against him felt perfect, exquisite. The steady vibrations rolling through him from the warmth captured his attention and lulled him further a heavenly symphony that was even more beautiful at the offset to his bleak, dark life. The smell from his cloud was intoxicating and familiar.

Zero felt drugged and hypnotised.

Zero could practically feel, taste the power radiating from his pillow.

It was something that he felt when he drank from – what the hell?, if he remembered correctly, he was lying on the cold wet floor, wet from his blood or so.

Zero blearily hoped he was back in his room and just had very realistic nightmare, even though he knew it wasn’t possible. Zero lazily moved through the haze, slowly and then his senses picked up the heat was definitely not a pillow, and that hum was definitely a heartbeat.

Zero stiffened further when he realised, he was lying in what seemed to be someone’s lap. Zero’s breath hitched at that.

He did not remember laying on anything remotely similar to this. Zero vividly remembered the cold wood floor and his rapidly cooling blood seeping into his clothes. Zero hesitantly opened his eyes, his vision bleary. He blinked away the tear crusted eye finally seeing with clarity.

His distressed eyes catching sight of the familiar elegant collarbone and the slender, beautiful neck that was much too familiar.

Zero swallowed he knew what he would see if he raised his eyes up a little further. Kaname fucking Kuran’s matchless visage.

Zero had no idea what Kuran was doing here, and at that to, at this night. Zero was to freaking exhausted from all these twists and turns that kept showing up one after another.

“Kuran”

Zero whispered drained out as the reality of the situation set in.

Zero didn’t even want to ask what Kuran was doing here and why?

Kuran should not know him yet, and he wasn’t taken to Cross’s house, so he was yet to befriend Yuuki who was probably the only reason why Kuran hadn’t disposed of him at this time.

He turned to see someone he was very familiar with, who shouldn’t be here, not in the house where his parents lay dead, not in the place where all his childish hopes and dreams were shattered, not in the house that took away all he had ever known, not where the hurt, pain and despair started.

Soulful amethyst eyes locking with the otherworldly stare glowing an iridescent red unlike any seen in nature.

They were not the red of a vampire Zero was well acquainted with those very intimately. Those glowing orbs drew him in, making him forget about his current predicament.

Zero was only able to free himself from those eyes that devoured him with a hunger that even the most depraved weren’t capable of, when the voice that was just as ethereal as the eyes whispered in reverence, with love and so many unspoken emotions,

“Zero”.

Zero snapped his eyes close to gather himself only to open them when a melancholic

“Zero”

entered his ear.

He was numb with grief but then pure euphoria, a pleasure so unreal that it hurt spread through him wave after wave, taking him to a new mind destroying high with every crest and flow surprising him every time.

“Kuran”

Zero mumbled out again, feeling and sounding like a broken record.

“Kaname”

came a growled reply from Kuran his voice like nectar honeyed and warm, so warm.

Kaname’s swirling eyes twinkled with something indescribable.

Zero had never seen such an expression on Kuran’s face as he usually had on his infuriatingly blank expression, so he was caught off guard.

Zero’s eyes darted across the room, reaffirming that he had somehow travelled back in time.

Maybe Kuran was also experiencing the same thing.

Zero’s heart rate quickened at that. Zero’s soft hair fell over his eyes hiding them, he did not want Kuran here if he was just here to solve or understand this curious set of circumstances.

Zero doesn’t know what he was expecting out of Kuran, but it wasn’t just – Zero really didn’t know what he was expecting.

His train of thought came to a stop as he felt soft yet firm fingers brush away the strands of hair that hid away his eyes. The fingers gentle and cautious as if he were made of glass and would break at the slightest pressure.

Zero never liked being treated like that, like he was weak but this was somehow different, … it felt nice, it filled him with warmth and calmed the taunt strings that were a constant every waking moment.

Kaname’s kaleidoscopic dreamy eyes looked at him questioningly, never pressing. He looked at Zero like he was a sacred treasure, something that encompassed the whole world to him.

Zero felt the tell tale blush creeping in, flushing those snowy cheeks with colour like the first blossoms of spring. Those eyes were soft and unbridled in their worship.

Zero felt his throat clamp up.

He wanted to bite out scathing remarks designed to hurt, and glare up at those eyes but he couldn’t find it in himself too.

Zero would have by now pushed away from Kaname, vehemence in his every step.

But Zero felt the walls he built around the fact that this was happening, his parents dead, and the pain and turmoil that he knows will follow him never too far away.

Kaname’s presence soothed him, the only thing that made sense in this suddenly senseless world.

Even Zero with all his inexperience knew that the look in Kuran’s eyes was too close to love, exceeding it by an unknown variable.

He had seen love enough in the way, his father had gazed at his mother, and she him.

Zero can confront this … whatever this was later, much later. When he was back to feeling more like himself into whatever sorry excuse he was being right now.

Zero had more urgent matters to tend to, like his parents’ cold corpse, mangled and bloody. He wasn’t given the chance to see his parents before he had been taken by Yagari sensei to Cross Academy to live with Cross and Yuuki. He had visited their graves in the family estate a year after, only after he was deemed emotionally stable enough to do so.

Zero was bitter about that, indeed he had been detached, mute and removed from reality as the certainty he was never going to hear his mother hum again as she danced through the hall, or his father’s laughter at her antics.

He was never going to be able to do that.

At that time, he hadn’t known Ichiru had betrayed them and had grieved for his twin he had treasured.

It had been only for Ichiru that Zero trained, if Ichiru hadn’t been so set on becoming a hunter following their parents’ footsteps Zero wouldn’t have.

Zero was even deemed too kind, too innocent, too pure.

But Shizuka, she had been the waking call shattering his idealistic dream, a far-fetched image of reality.

***

Zero buried his heart under wall upon wall indestructible as long as his will remained indominable.

He had grown fond of the antics of Cross and Yuuki, it distracted him when breathing became too hard. His inevitable fall that couldn’t come any sooner, he had only wished he would have his revenge by killing Shizuka and then point his Bloody Rose towards himself and pull the trigger.

But Kaname, he knew how to keep Zero alive by giving enough fodder to think he was needed to ensure Yuuki’s safety, to give him a new foe when one disappeared to kindle the flame never letting it rest.

It was like Kuran knew how to propel him further, when all he wanted was for it all to end. Zero had hated Kuran, for always using Yuuki as a reason, an excuse.

He had come to resent Yuuki just the slightest, never being able to bring himself to hate the girl for all her shortcomings who tried so hard to keep him afloat.

Kuran had become his lifeline in the most literal and abstract sense.

Kuran’s addicting blood that sang a siren’s thrall filled with such devastating pleasure as impressions of passion, love and all things beautiful rushed through like a tsunami.

He had first thought he was feeling Kuran’s feelings for his precious girl.

Zero had been jealous not of Kuran, but of Yuuki.

Zero hadn’t known that such a love was possible, he had never seen, felt love like that.

Zero found another reason why his life was incomplete and painful and desolate.

Zero would have held onto this theory if it hadn’t been Kuran’s soft caresses as he eased him into his feeding, never complaining if he bit too hard.

Zero was clumsy when drinking blood, his hunter instincts blaring out alarms as his vampiric self’s primal hunger surged forth.

Somehow, Kuran soothed the hunter and vampire in him.

He hadn’t known that was ever a possibility. 

Zero took note of how even though Zero had been unaware as he was settled on Kuran’s lap to allow for easier access, he was held there after Zero sunk into the warm bliss after his blood thirst was satiated.

Zero had drunk from just Yuuki once before Kuran, not even a gulp, he had retched it out a few seconds after, as the revolting taste of her blood gagged him. Zero had been unsure if it was just Yuuki or because he was a hunter turned vampire so blood didn’t taste good. He had nicked a blood bag from the doctor’s room, just to confirm it.

He had been absolutely disgusted with himself but he had to know. Just a drop, it was the same as Yuuki’s entirely unappealing and nauseating.

So, when Kuran had offered his blood, more like forced it on him, he hadn’t been expecting anything else.

But thinking back he should have Kaname Kuran did not belong in this world, the world he knew.

Zero had felt like he had done something, chanced upon something forbidden, not of this world when he suckled at the smooth, glorious liquid that felt like ambrosia, ecstasy, a supernova in and of itself, ethereal and inexplicable, indescribable.

Kaname had been gentle after the first compulsion to feed him.

He coaxed Zero like he was being a particularly unhelpful, naughty child patiently urging him to drink. Zero’s words of venom and vitriol that were quick to come up, died down slowly after each feeding.

Kuran was being gentle too gentle for something that should be an inconvenience to him.

Kuran held him through the pain, as his blood soothed his ache, held him through the inevitable, incapacitating high the divine concoction he called blood left him in.

Kuran could have left but he stayed, a gentle and sure presence.

Zero had hated drinking blood from Kuran, but then grew to even dare he say look forward to them, just to feel the dreamy haven Kuran so enticingly offered. During those moments there was nothing but Zero and Kaname, all worldly troubles forgotten under the tide of pleasure, and immaterial feelings.

Zero usually left without a word, and Kaname always let him go fingers withdrawing reluctantly, no taunting, condescending words that he expected.

Kaname always watched him leave until he left his line of sight.

Those eyes scorching like the surface of the sun.

Days keeping distance from Kaname, had him feeling like a giant bruise, his body smarting, aching, the pain more crippling than the bloodlust he felt.

Zero had looked for signs that it wasn’t just Zero but Kaname too. But Kuran was too skilful an actor for he looked as impassive as always. Burning eyes leaving ghostly trails on him.

Kuran had become Kaname in the sanctuary of his mind and he didn’t know yet what he felt but Kaname had become his one lifeline, the one reason to live in this cruel world.

Shizuka had died, leaving him just half a step from carrying out the rest of his self-imposed mission in life.

But he couldn’t even complete the thought, as horror and devastation flooded him, it was like the very notion of him entertaining this as a possibility was a sacrilege, an unforgivable sin.

Kaname had held his gaze steady and waiting, letting himself orient back into the world that just a moment ago looked bleak with all his tasks done.

Kaname always found Zero when he needed him, always there a lingering constant presence.

***

Zero looked at Kaname who was still patiently waiting caressing his face as he did so.

“Kaname”, Zero whispered back brokenly to Kuran no, Kaname which earned another possessive growl that reverberate between them.

Zero jerked himself in disbelief as the words, that still hung in the air along with the blanket of pure bliss enveloping them, echoed his dull mind.

Zero gasped taken aback as he saw Kaname’s indescribably perfect face that sent a thrum of possessiveness through him, slowly closing in,

A hesitant hand coming up to stroke his cheeks with such devotion Zero was struck speechless again as the most desired, powerful being ever, period, was gazing at him so reverently full of something Zero didn’t want to name.

“Kaname”, Zero whispered soothingly

still not registering that this was happening, that this was actually a thing.

Zero was so fucking done, done damn it.

His whole life seemed to be one convoluted soap opera. What was even his life anymore?

Zero took in a deep breath, scowling at the weird shit that keeps on happening, life keeps throwing at him.

Kaname’s hands stopped in their tracks as he watched riveted at the changing expressions flickering on Zero’s face as they settled on a scowl.

Kaname watched as Zero slowly lifted a hand that was resting on his chest to grasp Kaname’s long, slender fingers hesitant at first, then resolute in the Zero was.

Kaname waited with baited breath for Zero to continue, to do something. Zero agonisingly slow entwined their fingers together, before tugging them forward as if to inspect them.

Zero’s shifting amethyst hues glistening with curiosity and something akin to wonder.

Zeros cheeks flushed again seducing Kaname further, before he turned back to Kaname staring at those intoxicating eyes.

Kaname held Zero’s gaze poignant in its bewitchment over him. Kaname would do anything Zero asked of him.

Zero hesitantly opened his mouth slightly before pressing forward quietly,

“What is this?”

Zero unconsciously place his idle hand palm first over Kaname’s heart, the steady rhythmic beat anchoring him further and calming his frayed nerves.

Zero felt the dizzying heat that was neither hot nor cold but something akin to how he imagined true bliss would feel like, slithered its way between the joined hands, from the pulsating heart where Zero splayed his hands over.

Kaname felt the torrent of emotions immaterial course through them both, assured from Zero’s hitched breaths Zero was feeling what he was.

The bond twisted and turned, swirling over them enveloping them completely.

Zero felt bemused wonder that felt foreign, but not, it was muted as if held back by something.

Zero realised with a start that it was not coming from him, though it was coming from within him.

Zero’s captivating eyes widened in surprise as a startled gasp escaped him at the realisation.

Zero beseeched Kaname to understand and just answer already damn it!

But Kaname was looking at Zero, eyes dark and fervent with embers of emotions for the life of him Zero couldn’t pinpoint, but they sent a shiver down his spine as he flushed further still at the hungry gaze.

Zero glared at Kaname fuming, though he knew it probably wasn’t intimidating in the least not when he could practically feel the heat radiating from his face.

Zero never blushed, never, but Kaname was doing something.

That’s it! Kaname was doing some freaky shit to get under his skin!

‘Fucking bastard’

Kaname smirked at the adorable picture Zero made glaring at him whilst blushing so prettily.

Kaname schooled his face into a nonchalant expression before asking Zero in a sincere tone,

“What is what? Zero?”

Zero felt his eye twitch at the question, growing increasingly more irritated at Kaname.

Zero was surprised to see Kaname in such a playful mood, it was so different from his dutiful, perfect night class leader shtick or exceedingly powerful, aloof pureblood prince he showed everyone else.

Zero felt his lips lift up the slightest bit before he ducked his head so Kaname wouldn’t catch a glimpse of it.

Zero grumbled out, frowning,

“This! All of this?”

lifting their entwined hands in emphasis

“The fuck is going on?”

Kaname let out an amused chuckle that quickly died down as he thought of how to break the news of the bond to Zero.

He should really thank his lucky stars that both Artemis and Bloody Rose were still his.

Otherwise, Zero would have taken to his usual response to anything that annoyed him, shoot first, question second approach when it came to vampires, especially purebloods.

Kaname sighed, before gently pulling Zero closer, lifting his face and staring deep into those steadily widening eyes, he absently thumbed the ridge under Zero sweeping amethyst flames, as he gently asked Zero

“What do you feel Zero?”

Zero remained quiet expression befuddled,

Zero repeated,

“What… do… I... feel?”

“Yes, Zero …”

Kaname breathed out, eyes resembling the stars in intensity.

Zero gazed into Kaname’s spell binding eyes, his eyes going half mast as he pondered on what Kaname said.

What did he feel?

***

He slowly remembered the way, something he couldn’t describe, that he instinctively had known was Kaname, reach out to him at every crossover.

Even if Kaname passed by quickly enough, somehow holding his gaze throughout the whole affair, the presence would linger more and more each passing moment, until it was a constant shadow over him.

Zero had felt uncomfortable at whatever this was, his hunter instincts blaring, while his vampire preened like a fucking cat at the attention.

He couldn’t even confront Kaname because he didn’t know if it was all in his head.

Zero grudgingly admitted it was a heady feeling being taken care of for once in his goddamn life.

It didn’t seem hostile, it embraced him gently giving him the illusion of privacy when everything became too much always lurking out of sight hovering protectively.

Zero bit his lips at the realisation, he would have blown a gasket, driven himself crazy to find out what that was and die trying to get rid of it.

But he… hadn’t… distinctively because it felt like Kaname, was Kaname.

The possibility lifting his usual downcast state into something that felt like genuine happiness, it felt like Zero wasn’t the only one noticing this almost palpable change and tension between them.

Sure, it was visible to only them both, but Zero felt better that there was some kind of reaction that he could glean from the stoic mask that Kaname wore.

Zero remembered the feedings, Zero would always push himself to the edge, wearing down his body and too prideful to go to Kaname.

But he didn’t need to.

Kaname always appeared when he knew Zero couldn’t take no more, as if finely tuned to the inner workings of the puzzle that was Zero.

Zero would be too far gone to put up a fight, even though they both knew he would give in at the end, but not too far gone enough to not realise in his haste he somehow always wound up on Kaname’s lap with his hands pressing against Kaname’s chest.

The expertly sculpted godly body pressing against his throwing him off guard, and further igniting his thirst.

Zero could never drink from anyone else, not only was the thought revolting and blasphemous when he tasted the heavenly sinful blood of Kaname,

Kaname ruined him for anyone else.

Zero would feel high, completely consumed by the white hot fire that engulfed his sensibilities swallowing his worries, his aches and pain and reality falling through his grasp as if water through a sieve.

Zero was completely inebriated, he would dazedly look to Kaname, for Kaname was the only thing registering in his intoxicated mind.

Kaname looked glorious as ever, beautiful and perfect in a way it hurt to look at, though what made those warm, happy feelings to course through him was the overflowing emotion that softened Kaname’s immobilising gaze directed at him.

How those deceptively fine and perfect fingers would trace lazy circles over his back, hands caressing his face cradling him close in the strong sure way only Kaname could as he slumped against Kaname boneless and satiated.

The protective way Kaname caged his body against himself left something warm and giddy at the attention.

Kaname would look at him with such devotion and reverence Zero was left to fall deeper into chasm of pure nirvana unravelling under such passion.

Zero would have restless nights that would be soothed by the hovering shadow tracing his feature the same as Kaname did, leaving the same trails of heat, each point an intensity that felt unreal.

Zero wasn’t sure if he hadn’t just had a very intense fever dream after drinking such a potent potion meant to bewilder all.

But then just when Zero was going to take the easy way out and ignore it,

Kaname would catch his eyes and reveal those heart rendering emotions for a brief moment in time, as the world closed in on them, just the two of them.

Zero would again fall deeper into something he didn’t want to name.

The blazing, swirling ocean of stars that swaying in him, that sparked and ached with an intensity that hurt like nothing else when he was away from Kaname, the sense addling, mind destroying, unworldly pleasure every passing moment with Kaname in his vicinity.

*** 

Zero couldn’t ignore it anymore,

He liked Kaname?

No that didn’t feel right

He loved Kaname

He loves Kaname

but love seemed like too simple a word for what he felt.

And the strange warmth euphoric and alive that had taken root within him tethered him to what exactly he didn’t know, but what he did know was it was related to Kaname, only Kaname.

His justified paranoia and the chocking thought of being chained dissolving, because it was Kaname.

He didn’t know what was going on.

He didn’t know what to say now.

Kaname was still looking at him like he would never tire of the sight before him as he traced his features with an obsession.

Zero felt the feelings he apparently had for Kaname surge.

Zero’s fingers twitched, eyes roving over Kaname unconsciously.

But did Kaname love him? 

He knows even though he vehemently would have detested any sort of relationship between vampires and hunters.

But Zero had seen what the Hunter Association was capable of, he recalled the way bile had risen to his throat as he found the extent of corruption and the frankly demoralising grovelling the then Association’s chairman did for Rido Kuran, the vilest despicable being Zero ever had the displeasure of encountering.

Zero understood where Shizuka was coming from, understood how a pureblood driven insane was perhaps the most dangerous thing that could happen, understood the aching pureness of the madness that seeped in them, when their one true love, their mate, their everything taken away from them.

Vampires mated for life, that is why, vampires were rarely able to fall in love with another after they had fallen once, they guarded their hearts because once given, it was next to impossible to regain it, even if it was an unrequited love that will never come to fruition.

Zero had doubts because of Kaname’s regard for Yuuki, it seemed odd to him on how a pureblood especially, the pureblood prince would be so considerate to a human girl.

But that had been answered when Yuuki awoke as the Kuran scion, awoke as Yuuki Kuran.

Zero had been in the throes of distress and despair, when he imagined the very real possibility of Kaname and Yuuki together.

But when Zero had laid in his bed, eyes burning as tears began to fall, for the first time since that fateful night, he cried.

Zero then felt familiar hands gather him in strong arms that bespoke of unspeakable power as Kaname silently situated himself on the bed leaning against the headrest, looking at home in Zero’s room.

Kaname held him as he gazed down at him expression worried, distressed and bitter as if he never wanted Zero to cry ever again.

The look of his heartache reflecting in his cosmic eyes.

Kaname slowly with trembling hands brushed away the lingering tears from his cheeks, the corner of his eyes causing Zero to close them and lean in to the touch.

Kaname unprompted told Zero that Yuuki was well, sending an almost tangible spike of pain through Zero, before continuing in the same breath that the Night Class will take turns to give her blood for now, she will take blood tablets once she is stable.

Zero felt like Kaname had misread his pain as Kaname assured Zero could see Yuuki once she assimilated with the changes.

Zero froze as he heard the desperation in Kaname’s voice and Zero asked quietly as if afraid of what he might hear,

“Not from you?”

“She didn’t drink from you?”

Kaname froze, Zero detachedly realising Kaname’s heart pick up in pace pushing that sinful, prized, celestial blood, thick and heady like liquid gold.

Zero felt the bloodthirst peeking in, but Zero had feed from Kaname just the day before, Zero could still hold on.

He was waiting for something from Kaname, it was not blood.

Kaname held his gaze, eyes smouldering with embers that twisted and danced and said solemnly, the weight behind his words almost physical,

“Never from me”

“No one else will ever drink from me Zero, only you”

Zero if he was being his usual self would have gone off on Kaname, cursing up a storm for coming into his room unannounced and the usual drivel.

But Zero felt like he needed to hear this, he didn’t know why, maybe he did but he didn’t want to acknowledge it just yet.

Things were good as they were now for the time being.

***

Zero struggled to voice out his agitation,

“There is something here, everywhere in me, around me and I know it’s you”

“What is this?”

“Kaname?”

“What the fuck is going on between us?”

Zero pounded his hands against Kaname, punctuating each word with a restless shove against Kaname’s chest, of course it did nothing to Kaname but Zero had to let some steam lose.

These past few months was of confusion, warmth and pain and pleasure.

Tears stung at Zero’s eyes as his breath quickened, coming out in shudders as Kaname held him closer still, Zero was painfully aware of the fine lines of Kaname’s body.

Kaname lifted his head again, grasping his chin but Zero swatted at the hand that was slowly coaxing him to face Kaname.

He couldn’t resist those fingers that held more strength in his little finger, than what Zero had in his entire body.

Kaname’s eyes had Zero breathless all else forgotten, they were vibrant, ethereal, otherworldly, ever shifting, swirling, amorphous, elysian orbs lit with embers and flickers of colours, impressions and emotions, hues unknown and immaterial, they spoke of love, reverence and devotion.

Zero felt his heart stop at the gaze directed at him, struck speechless by the indescribable being in front of him.

Kaname reverently, like words of gospel and worship, whispered out the words he hadn’t known he wanted to hear, but needed to hear,

“I love you, Zero”

Kaname watched desperation setting in as he saw silvery tears slip from those lovely, lavender amethyst gems, Kaname had seen Zero, his strong, brave Zero cry just once, the day Yuuki awoke and it still hurt just as it did then, unbearable.

***

Kaname was irritated as he mentally catalogued all he had to do to keep the Council off of his back and away from Cross Academy were his beloved Zero, who was of mounting concern to the Council due to the death of Shizuka Hio and Rido Kuran.

The death of any pureblood was a cause for concern. And the demise of two purebloods on the same night was alarming.

Kaname wanted to erase the Council from existence at the nerve they had to come after Zero, his Zero.

Kaname had to deal with another equally frustrating event, Yuuki’s awakening.

Kaname knew he should help Yuuki in what must be a very confusing time for her.

But he would never allow her to drink from him.

That was solely Zero’s right.

Yuuki would be safe as long as he still saw the kindness that shone so clearly in her parents.

But any unwarranted expectations needed to crushed in the bud.

He had no time to ease her into the reality of her situation.

He had to see Zero now, though it may seem callous to not be near her on the night of her awakening, letting his trusted inner circle handle her needs.

Kaname disappeared in a blink of an eye, emerging softly inside Zero’s room.

Zero’s room was neat and tidy though definitely smaller than any room in the Moon Dorms and much smaller than what Zero deserved.

When Zero accepts his love for him, this will change.

Kaname wanted to shower Zero with gifts and grandiose gestures, Kaname was head over heels so deeply in love, Zero deserved nothing less.

Kaname will ensure Zero will want for nothing in his life, all materialised when even a passing thought alluding his interest entered his mind.

Kaname was shaken awake from the reverie he had submerged himself in, at the sound of hitched breaths and lances of pain twisting his insides, bolts of fiery pain coming down on him like a downpour.

The pain was nothing Kaname couldn’t handle.

But what Kaname definitely couldn’t handle was Zero’s tears, they twisted knives into his heart, as he felt helplessness overcome him.

Kaname couldn’t stand Zero’s tears.

Kaname felt the agitation, worry and concern letting his aura slip from his control, it had lingered over Zero every moment, soothing Kaname’s need to protect Zero.

He felt his aura reproachfully recoil at him, if he hadn’t been so caught up with the mess, he would have noticed something was horribly wrong, he would have noticed Zero needed him.

Kaname slowly gathered Zero’s curled in body from under the sheets, the hitched breaths and the wet sounds he made as tears rolled down those snowy cheeks, amethyst eyes wide in distress, the image left Kaname furious at himself.

Kaname just held his dearest close as he soothed those broken sounds that pained him more that anything else could.

His mind went through a million reasons for Zero’s tears before he honed in on the most likely.

Kaname had supposed Zero missed Yuuki, Zero must have been hurt at finding out his friend, someone who was very important to him had turned out to be the very thing he hated, a pureblood.

Kaname heart throbbed in pain at the reminder, his soul aching at the thought.

Kaname wanted to shake Zero into understanding that his precious heart-breaking tears were wasted on her.

If it was Kaname he would never allow even a single tear to fall from those defiant, fiery amethyst eyes.

Kaname hated the thought that the reason Zero was so vulnerable was because of Yuuki.

Kaname swallowed in the spiteful words that churned uncomfortably inside him.

But instead assured Zero of Yuuki’s continued wellbeing, assured Zero Yuuki would be fed by his inner circle, the second-best blood to that of a pureblood until she assimilated to the changes so she could switch to blood tablets like the rest of the vampires in campus.

Kaname felt Zero freeze in his arms, going stiff at his words.

Kaname was then stunned into silence when Zero quietly whispered out,

“Not from you?”

Kaname had been unsure what that meant, and if he was being his usual discerning self, he would have understood what Zero meant instantly.

Kaname blinked owlishly as Zero elaborated

“She didn’t drink from you?”

The shyness and beseeching eyes left Kaname in a stupor as Kaname replayed those words in his mind.

Was Zero jealous?

He never wanted Zero to question his place in his life, in his heart.

Kaname knew he will speak his words of love soon but not today, not when Zero was so thoroughly exhausted.

Kaname hated that he had hurt his beloved, he should really step up his game.

Zero was his everything.

Kaname can and will burn down the world for Zero as long as those gorgeous lips asked him to.

Zero needed to put his worries to rest so Kaname held those eyes that glowed from vitality, stubbornness still, that shined wetly from the tears shed, tears that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Kaname whispered

“Never from me”

“No one will ever drink from me Zero, only you”

Zero flushed distracting Kaname with the unconscious seduction Zero exuded. 

***

Now Kaname found himself again with Zero in his arms crying because he said that he loved Zero.

Kaname felt his own eyes prickle at the thought Zero was aghast at thought of Kaname being in love with Zero.

He suddenly didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t leave Zero so broken.

Kaname stilled as Zero sobbed into his chest, hands clutching at his shirt.

Kaname helpless in the face of those tears, gently rocked Zero, as his tears steadily soaked his chest.

A hitched breath, a moment of silence followed as Zero pulled away blinking lashes heavy with tears gazing at him with those wide luminous eyes, before he encircled his arms around Kaname’s neck, causing Kaname to tighten the hold he had on Zero’s waist, pulling him closer.

Zero collapsed again, burying his head against the nook of Kaname’s shoulder, still holding his gaze looking up at him.

Kaname was surprised that Zero trusted him with his vulnerability, the shutters coming down, his emotion walled off behind a mask of coping finally crumbling.

Kaname was even more bewildered when Zero’s face pulled into an expression that he had never seen, something he wanted to keep only to himself.

Zero smiled, shy and hesitant, the rose of those lips shimmering wetly, his poignant gaze full of words unspoken, longing and something… more.

Kaname felt his world freeze, all else coming to a standstill at the aching beauty of those lips he had dreamt and thirsted for, grace him with such a rare treasure, a smile for him, it was beautiful, perfect, so much more that what his imagination could conceive.

Those eyes that glimmered always with emotions, burned into him, the light shining through them remarkable and just as rare as the lovely smile.

Kaname was surprised yet again, growing lightheaded from the exhilaration, ecstatic, euphoric and blissful, his devotion growing until all that remained was Zero just Zero, as

his his his Zero

in his lilting, heavenly voice, so pure, so pure

that it brought forth Kaname’s protectiveness and possessiveness, eyes glowing like a celestial dance, one that confounded and enraptured,

whispered,

“I love you, Kaname”

Zero watched as Kaname’s incomprehensible eyes lit up as if they were a galaxy of their own and the unique red that he had only ever seen in Kaname’s gaze shaded those orbs.

Kaname’s face looked sinfully ecstatic.

Zero was feeling restless under the hungry gaze that torched him inside out.

Zero glared at Kaname without any heat in them,

Kaname chuckled at that,

“Can you say that again Zero?”

“I didn’t hear that properly”

mirth obviously colouring his tone.

Zero glared harder at that, crossing his arms against his chest,

muttering

“Jerk”

“Of all the people I could have fallen for, it was for this fucking bastard”

Kaname couldn’t control it anymore, high from the euphoria and the feelings of love and passion Zero inspired in him creating a drug Kaname could never get enough of.

Kaname laughed, the peals of laughter sounded like the first light of dawn, the sun setting creating a remarkable pallet of colours, like a shower of shooting stars, the dissonance unearthly.

Zero watched entranced at Kaname’s expression of pure joy and love and at the sound of his heartfelt laughter.

Zero was still stupefied that this Kaname, this Kaname, the one who looked at him like he was the only thing that mattered, like he was his everything, was his.

Zero felt satisfaction creep in and felt himself unravel under Kaname’s ethereal peals of joy.

Zero laughed the sound quiet and small, like chimes of bells, but it tinkled and twirled maddeningly in Kaname’s head.

The sound was Kaname decided the most precious sound ever, and it was his, all his.

Both of them came down slowly from their high, still euphoric as they had been.

Zero felt the awkwardness creep in, he was woefully ignorant and oblivious when it came to the matters of the heart.

The words exchanged between Kaname and him were seldom without insults and cursing on his part.

Zero shifted uncomfortably on Kaname’s lap, he stilled as he realised that might not be the best idea.

Kaname arched an eyebrow as Zero ducked down, face turning such a bright shade of red, that it both enticed and worried Kaname.

Kaname felt Zero’s palm against his cheek pushing him to the side.

Kaname’s eye twitched as he heard Zero grumble

“Stop staring, you creep”

Kaname wisely remained silent as Zero glared fiercely at him, like he was one of the misbehaving day class fangirls who didn’t know when to stop even if the truth came and smacked them in the face.

Kaname was more disciplined than that, thank you very much.

However, seeing Zero ponder on something causing his eyebrows to crease as an expression of concentration and introspection crossed his face.

The expression obviously trying to seduce Kaname concluded, everything Zero did was really enchanting. His thoughts proving Zero's glare to hold true.

Kaname corrected, he was not like them when Zero wasn’t involved.

Kaname watched as Zero resolutely turn towards him.

As if the question had been nagging at him for some time now,

Zero demanded,

“What is going on with the stupid warm shit I keep on feeling.”

“I am pretty sure your voodoo creepy magic cooked it up.”

“Seriously, it hurts like a bitch, I feel like a mangled corpse when you are not around.”

Kaname deadpanned at Zero’s colourful choice of words and description.

Kaname was also worried about the pain Zero complained about, he had wondered whether Zero would feel the entire brunt of the bond.

And thus, had taken the necessary steps to ensure Zero continued to go about his life mostly unhindered.

This just cemented his suspicion that the bond was stronger, much stronger than any he had witnessed before or read about in the future.

Kaname felt the remorse creep up on him at the pain Zero was going through because of the bond.

Kaname should have taken more precautions to ensure Zero’s comfort.

Kaname was disappointed in himself for allowing such an oversight.

Kaname felt the previously forgotten anxiety creep out again.

Kaname decided it was best to be as frank as Zero here.

Zero never liked beating around the bush and would want him to get straight to the point.

“Well you see… I forgot to mention…”

“We’re bonded”

“Oh is that it-“ 

“Wait WHAT?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems like there is some confusion Kaname and Zero are as they appear at the beginning so their younger selves they are having flashbacks, memories interwoven in their interactions. I mentioned it at the beginning it is non linear so ... I hope this clears it up...  
Kaname and Zero are in their past selves body while their minds and substance are from the future...
> 
>   
I have written this non linear I think... see I don't know what I'm writing half the time... but it should make sense?
> 
> Kaname and Zero are both in the past so in their past's body I think Kaname looks a year or two older than Zero so both of them look technically like children... Kaname almost a teen?
> 
> But both Kaname and Zero's mind and soul whatever you want to call it is from the future...  
The interactions between Kaname and Zero are an amalgamation of both their past (the future) and the present (the past) ...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone... I am sorry for not updating sooner... (つ﹏<。)  
I sincerely apologise for the wait... I know how miffed I get waiting for a new chapter...
> 
> This is not much of a chapter... (＞△＜Uu  
Since the new year is going to begin I wanted to put out something...  
My mind is churning the ideas... but i cannot seem to put words to paper... ╥﹏╥
> 
> Happy Holidays!!!  
Wishing you all nothing but the best!!! Hope you wonderful year ahead!!!
> 
> Thank you for the kind words and Kudos!  
Please leave a Kudos if you like my work and comment whatever you'd like to but please no hate... no trolls...
> 
> But I hope you enjoy this chapter not chapter!  
I will edit it make it a complete chapter sometime next week!

Zero felt his irritation rise as he glared at Kaname his death glare rumoured to get the job done if someone was subject to it long enough apparently did nothing to Kaname, having been under that scalding gaze more than anyone else but Zero could admit it probably wasn’t that scary when the intent to kill and inflict violence was no longer there, it hadn’t been for a long time now. It didn’t help that he still felt the heat radiate from his face a tell-tale flush in his cheeks.

Kaname was still looking at him with those open and loving eyes their beauty unreal as the first time he caught sight of them but what he now saw in them the passion and unbridled devotion and love changing those already unparalleled glowing orbs into a euphoric cage he would never be free from.

He never thought he would be part of such a peculiar and terrifying situation that would change him and his life in ways he wouldn’t have been able to conjure in his wildest dreams.

He was bonded to Kaname?

How and why?

Kaname was the most beautiful and powerful person he had ever seen, his grace and presence on a level the rest of them could never comprehend. But here he was holding him in his perfect arms careful and gentle as if even the slightest of pressure would shatter him. Such a treatment would have Zero throttling anyone else with such a skewed perception of him to the netherworlds however, Kaname knew just how much punishment and pain he could take but he still fretted over him, it was not condescending it was the worry sparked from this chasm of emotions between them and around them.

He couldn’t for the life of him stop his eyes from tracing over Kaname’s features and body his eyebrows creased as he unconsciously took stock of his wellbeing searching for injuries or just something off the need for him to do so was as paramount to his existence as breathing.

He had a sinking feeling that left his soul coiling in pleasure and apprehension that it mattered not the distance and it seemed the very fabric of space and time his need and love for Kaname Kuran will always remain constant and ever growing what a curious paradigm. He instinctively knew that they could be at the ends of the earth and still they would know and be pulled to where the other was.

He remembered Shizuka his heart plummeted as he realised just what Kaname had gotten himself into if as Kaname had implied what he felt strumming through Kaname’s blood was for him, for Zero…

not Yuuki…

not anyone else…

He couldn’t help the smug satisfaction and glee that coursed through him even as despair took over fast enough, he barely noticed it before it was swept under the tide of helplessness and pain.

But…

Then…

Then what would become of Kaname as the inevitable came true?

Zero’s life span as a human, a hunter and even if he were to willingly become a vampire for Kaname, such a thought he would have killed himself for entertaining but he would do so if the time they could spend together stretched even a tiny bit, was barely a fraction of a pureblood’s immortal life but what about after?

Zero marvelled at how his priorities and it seemed his principles changed morphed into something alien and different from the steadfast deep seated beliefs he held, he wondered when it all changed maybe it happened overnight or over time as he learnt the bitter truth of the events leading up to the tragedy that struck him. The betrayals from the Association he had thought so highly of was not expected but he knew everyone had agendas but Ichiru’s betrayal was seismic, the final nail in the coffin that shattered his worldview disillusioning him making his already rarely given trust unattainable except for one person who he never realised had it in the first place, had all of him, he would have laughed himself silly if someone said that to him before he shot the imbecile straight to hell.

Shizuka was only alive for the sake of her righteous ill-fated vengeance before she would join her lover, her mate in the afterlife. She was insane and so tragically sad and broken, dead as her mate the moment he breathed his last she was merely an empty shell that was fuelled by revenge and when that too was completed, she will flicker out of existence as the flames that fanned her every breath was extinguished. 

Zero wanted to scream, yell at Kaname as the implications set in, he had never felt such irrational fear in his life, how could Kaname do this to himself, why him? He was about to do just that, never having a problem expressing his displeasure with Kaname, to express his anger at him but now his anger and distress sprung from the concern he now was very acutely aware he never felt for another soul. The blind panic had Zero trembling in those sure arms that tightened around his waist those elysian incomprehensible exquisite gems that darkened and twinkled amorphously in distress and concern arrested him mid exhale.

Zero frowned as a nagging thought entered the forefront of his mind, a bond from what he remembered Yagari sensei say, was that there are many bonds that can be formed between vampires but the Mate bond was unique it was more of a soul bond its depths unfathomable whilst the other bonds between siblings, parents didn’t affect the vampire’s psyche or life. These kinds of bonds were just temporary needing renewal and extremely mild insignificant in the face of a Mate bond. The unsavoury kind was the master and servant bond with the pureblood having absolute domination and control of their newly bitten servants. Zero was fooling himself this didn’t feel like something that would pass over, this felt eternal but he had to ask.

Zero was captivated immersed completely in those soul wrenching eyes, even still his despair eclipsed the ocean of golden light love and warmth. Zero raised his hand to move back a silky velvet drape of Kaname’s luscious hair gently tucking it behind his ear his fingers lingered as he quietly whispered,

“Kaname… explain please…”

Kaname felt the trepidation mount in him as he gazed at those distressed wide amethyst glimmering orbs that shifted into a cycle of inimitable hues rimmed with those thick long dark lashes silver like dewed moonlight that brushed those soft cheeks every time those lilac tinted eyelids fluttered close seemed to bore into him every time Kaname looked into them and always losing himself completely and willingly. They glowed dimly as suffering, pain, loneliness, longing and desire and many more bittersweet emotions surfaced. Kaname had learned to read Zero through the emotions that danced like ever alit flames licking at the corporeal prison of amethyst ice. He was painfully aware of the agonizing panic and fear creep into him seamlessly bleeding into Kaname.

His beautiful Zero so full of emotion he wanted to see why…?

Why… there was such disillusionment and heartbreak on Zero’s beautiful face however Zero was woefully ignorant to the details of a blood bond.

Well though a vampire’s Mate was their greatest weakness and greatest strength the vampire race had somehow managed to guard the secrets of blood bonds from hunters. Oh, they knew about the fatal weakness of any vampire, even a pureblood their mates how could they leave such a tantalising kill switch unexplored but try as they might they never found more than what they already knew when the first hunters emerged. No vampire no matter what their inclinations was, good or bad would never even under the most brutal of tortures would tell anything not like they would be able to anyway.

When mates were caught by a remorseless hunter even if they did no harm, they chose to end themselves than witness their Mate hurt and inevitably give in to their assailant’s wishes. It had earned the grudging respect and admiration from hunters and they have respectfully never targeted a vampire through their Mate. Of course, this is official conjecture no organisation is without its dirty secrets without its lurking evil and greed. Truly that woman would be horrified at the state of their affairs, her beloved protectors turning out to be the monsters they claim to hunt.

But even he in all his obsessive need to know Zero to know everything couldn’t quite decipher when the fire dwindled down to smouldering embers, could not tell why those cold emotions were soaring behind those fiery orbs. He felt the lances of unbearable cruel pain jolt at his nerves as if electric fire ran through his veins instead of blood the acidic burning of poison wreaking havoc in him it was nothing Kaname couldn’t handle but what he couldn’t handle was Zero’s distress.

Kaname cradled Zero’s prettily flushed cheeks treading his fingers through soft wisps of starlight as he solemnly whispered,

“We’re bonded Zero…”

Zero brows scrunched as he hesitantly asked,

“Bonded as in…”

Kaname continued gently his magnetic sublime voice soothing the knot in Zero’s heart,

“… as in Mates.”

Zero let out a sharp gasp at that before the steely resolve shuttered those expressive aflame eyes,

“Is it permanent?”

Kaname tensed as he clenched his jaw tight his fingers tightened just the slightest bit enough to show Kaname’s displeasure at Zero’s words the unreasonable rage and bitterness that threatened to undo his rationale as he growled out his enchanting angelic voice turning sinister like death itself.

“Permanent?”

He needed Zero to understand that he was no qualms doing exactly what Zero thought he was capable of doing but with him as his one and only Queen… not his knight not Yuuki’s knight especially seriously just to goad Zero to pay more attention to him he had to say something so asinine.

“Why my darling Zero I would say it is more than that”

What made him even more incensed was Zero accepting his imagined role without batting an eye really Zero who always rebuked what he had to say didn’t have anything against it in fact he seemed absolutely fine with it. Kaname was not fine with Zero being fine with it.

“I assure you Zero I made sure of that”

Kaname continued his glowing eyes glimmering darkly, blasely as if he were talking about something mundane as his restless overwhelming aura twisted and caressed every inch of Zero letting Zero feel him as his aura seeped into every pore.

“Zero I never want to hurt you…”

His amorous lips twisted into a humourless smile as he took in the disquieted expression of unease and something akin to fear on his beloved Zero’s face.

“But you seem to be under the notion that you could escape me anytime you want…”

Kaname lovingly caressed the roses and cream of beautifully arched cheeks his eyes no longer the peculiar mesmerising colours of fire and night but they turned to an ever shifting amalgamation of gold flickers in shifting galaxies an infinitesimal serenade of realms beyond, they were fathomless and the warmth those eyes reflected when they chance upon Zero gave way for the arctic tundra ice that burned with insatiable hunger, the cold glint sharpened as they arrested Zero in their unending obsessive love for him the death and destruction they promised at anything that would take Zero from his silken golden deceptive gossamer web of love and possession.

“You are mine forevermore”

Kaname had every intention to earn Zero’s love even if he didn’t deserve his beautiful Zero, he would strive to please Zero always, he wanted Zero to be euphoric and in peace.

“Love even if you didn’t love me, I would have ensured you’ll never come to entertain even a fleeting thought for anyone else”

The whole world can go to hell for that matter figuratively and literally speaking if need be. 

“Even if it meant doing away with every single soul in this world…”

Zero looked at Kaname reaching a startling confirmation that Kaname was serious and resolved to go through with his grave promise if he had to. Zero laughed quietly hysteria slowly emerging from him, isn’t it funny that if he were to not have confessed his love to Kaname, that if he had made a different decision he wouldn’t be here? But alone in this cold cruel world with Kaname always there in the shadows loving silently suffering quietly.

Kaname would keep away others and him from seeking anyone out... not that he would... already under Kaname’s enthralling spell. If he had a different answer for Kaname’s love but he couldn’t even imagine such a thing it was impossible of that he had never been so sure, his fate would have been written in a different ink. Because if he were sat here in a different universe, without Kaname by his side, Zero would have never become complete.

So, did Kaname’s terrifying proclamation scare him?

Yes, yes it did.

But he found to his own bewildering surprise he couldn’t bring himself to care to feel the least bit guilty for relishing in Kaname’s deadly undying devotion.

Zero looked at the confusion in Kaname’s expression he mused on how to explain to him that he was jumping to seriously wrong conclusions, what part of him reciprocating Kaname’s love did Kaname not understand? He sighed sometimes vampires showed just how different they were from humans, purebloods he decided were worse especially Kaname. Kaname succeeded in distracting his thoughts and concern for now but still it nagged him that Kaname seemed to not care in the least about himself.

Zero was ticked off at himself, Kaname was saying things that would be of cause for great alarm and fear to anyone especially if he was being himself the paranoia and the indignation of being bound to anyone or anything would have been enough for him to put multiple bullets through Kaname without batting an eye but he loved Kaname and he had a sinking feeling of suspicion no matter what Kaname did he would still love him and accept him.

Kaname realised with a start just what he had said he swallowed his throat suddenly parched and drier than the most unforgiving of deserts. Zero’s bell like tinkling lilting laugh took him be surprise… this was… not what he was expecting… the curses and vehemence from Zero for everything he said, did not come. Just pure mirth a satisfaction, as if having completed a deeply, personally needed action expressed by the slight curve of shimmering pale rose lips and a quiet absolution directed at Kaname worn in a light raise of the perfectly arched eyebrow above a spiral of jagged amethyst fire hot ribbons of light that sparked.

Kaname’s heart beat faster he wasn’t going to take back his words the intensity and truth laced in them was undeniable and he knew it may frighten his Zero so independent so brazen so defiant but he was never going to hold Zero back from what he wants to do or dictate how he lives his life. Kaname will be there with him every step of the way in the shadows or right beside him whatever way Zero pleased but Zero was his. 

Zero sighed as the anger in him faded away for he truly was helpless in the face of these new circumstances and acknowledged feelings whilst Kaname succinctly described his monopolising desire there was the uncomfortable realisation that Zero tentatively felt the same though he was unsure he could ever match the intensity Kaname exuded in every word, in every action.

Zero glared at Kaname with incensed anger as he growled out his words gritting his teeth,

“Kaname I am too tired to deal with all you just said”

Kaname’s words rocked his mind, leaving it moving in unknown undiscovered ways, ways he had been unaccustomed to these many years of pain and anguish, ways that belonged to the child who was lost in his own world of dreams and hopes, he was always untethered until his untainted pristine wings were twisted in burdensome chains nailing him to the ground, bloody and bitter but never broken. 

“But the most concerning thing is YOU said we are BONDED!!!”

Zero felt that just a mere thought of Kaname was an echo... one with the power to tear down walls Zero had tirelessly built indestructible but Kaname cut through it like there was nothing there in the first place.

“Do you have any idea what I’m feeling right now”

Zero had never felt so conflicted so distressed he wanted to run to Kaname, yet stay away. Zero was always strong and nonchalant as Kaname was normally, he was but never with Kaname.

“DO YOU?!”

Zero removed his hand from around Kaname as his slender fingers pressed into the skin of his forearms, nails biting into the fragile snow pale skin, drawing beads of blood. His whole body shook, bones rattling in the constant fear of Kaname’s future that loomed before him.

“For fucks sake! I lo- ove you!”

Heart pounding so hard against his ribcage as his pulse pressed outward, jerking the veins within.

“But- Shizuk- ka…”

The world without Kaname was impossibly colder now that he got a taste of him but he was accustomed to it, to the numbing dismal cold he can for Kaname’s sake.

“HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF!!!”

“Zero…”

Zero wanted to scream himself raw as sharp pain lanced through him and the world tilted colourful spots appearing as a mirage before him. It was as if his whole body was beaten and bruised black and blue and even the slightest of movements made every muscle and bone to ache.

“STOP! ST- TOP just listen to what I have to say!”

Regardless he had to get these words off of his chest he wanted Kaname to understand the gravity of the mess he had gotten himself into.

“YOU! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO YOU HAVE BONDED WITH!!!”

Searing fiery bursts of electric fire the kind that hurt unlike the zapping circuit of pleasure and devouring poison ran rampant from what seemed like his very soul intensifying every passing second jarring and brutal.

“HUH?!”

His ragged breath stuttered as his vision darkened in and out like a bad cinematic reel.

“DO YO- OU?!”

He panted his breath turning to ice chocking the frigid air from his leaden lungs the cold was savage and bitter like the core of a star that burned cold.

“I’M A HUNTER!”

With the pressure of this knowledge this fear for Kaname twisted into tangled knots in the quivering stuttering pulsating muscle that pumped his blood faster hotter and colder through his taut veins.

“BUT THAT’S NOT EVEN THE THING I’M LOSING MY MIND OVER!”

He looked desperately into Kaname’s eyes he was the only thing registering even as phantom ghosts pulled him every which way.

“I’m… was? a Level-E …”

The bitterness and the defeat crumpling his quivering form as he said the words that was his salvation once upon a time now it was taunting him… what was wrong with him?

“A HUMAN!”

Zero looked at that stupid perfect face of stupid fucking Kuran eyes softening despite himself he jabbed a slender finger into Kaname’s chest as his hysteria spilled out of his wide luminous eyes that glistened wetly tugging at Kaname’s heartstrings as if his heart was being shredding with white hot flames resurrecting and killed again another gruesome brutal way over and over. 

“YOU ARE A GODDAMN PUREBLOOD!”

His voice broke into something small and fragile unlike the usual hard biting tones he used that showed no fear in face of anything.

“Do you know what my life expectancy is?!”

The grief surged with every expelled breath reaching higher intensity each stuttering breath burned as if he inhaled poison gas and not life-giving air.

“I can’t bear to imagine what will happen to you…”

Tears began to spill from wide distressed lilac amethyst hues dew drops on the flush of first blossoms rosy and pale on untainted snow.

“Will you d- die…?”

The seeping numbness in his mind, the glimmering tears that flowed unchecked from his eyes, the sheer despair and pain that now took hold of his writhing soul threatened to engulf him completely.

“Will you become like Shizuka…?”

He felt the will keeping him up fuelled by his anger give out as he slumped against Kaname boneless with a soul weary exhaustion as he whispered barely audible in the blanketing numbness that settled over like cobwebs on his frazzled nerves.

“What will happen to you?”

There was no bite in his words as he mumbled eyes drooping with unknowing tears still falling the hitched breaths still tugging at Kaname’s heart like a million death at once every single time.

“Bastard!”

He buried his head into Kaname’s soaking silk dress shirt the fabric smooth more expensive that anything Zero ever owned. His shimmering eyes darkened as sleep beckoned him after his emotional hysterical breakdown but there was still much to be faced… before Zero can rest much to be confronted... He sighed his half-hooded eyes heavy with sooty lashes speckled with gem like teardrops the lilac of the lids now a pronounced violet.

“You’re such an idiot…”

Kaname felt the scalding burning pain course through him in crushing waves but the pain that Kaname felt in his very soul over Zero’s tears never could he stand it. His heart warmed at the concern Zero showed him he knew Zero was more soft hearted than he let on so much so Kaname had wondered how such an innocent pure soul could bear to pull the trigger at those unredeemable Level-E not when such compassion and purity lingered somehow untainted by the blood and death that seemed to hound Zero’s every step.

“Zero… a long life is as much a blessing as a curse…”

Kaname smiled ruefully his life was like one long dream he never felt alive but that all changed when he first saw Zero those glaring menacing amethyst orbs that burned through him with the heat of supernovae.

“It is insignificant to me…”

He never knew the meaning of being alive before, hadn’t known he hadn’t lived till then, hadn’t known what he never knew was missing.

“for my heart beats as long as yours does…”

Kaname wanted to get the mess with Rido and Yuuki over with so that the precious time he always had too much of before that now seemed to be dwindle into the transient over in an eye blink lifespan of humans and Zero didn’t even have that given, he was degenerating to a Level-E. He never knew the value of each passing second never had he so keenly felt it before. 

“and not a second more…”

He regretted that he couldn’t find the courage to confess to Zero directly but their relationship was already strained at best and down right hostile at least on Zero’s side more often than not he couldn’t bear the thought of the cruel rejection or worse Zero looking at him with suspicion not even entertaining the thought his words of love and affection were true just another one of his convoluted schemes playing him like a pawn in his game of chess.

“I’m sorry… I forced you to drink my blood with a desperation so that I could chain you down to me…”

Kaname was never going give his beloved Zero up to anyone else maybe if things were different, he wouldn’t have resorted to what he did.

“so that even if you hate me… you’ll need me…”

He should have told Zero what was happening that day when Zero quiet tears froze the blood in his veins.

“I’m sorry Zero for not telling you sooner…”

But he would never ever regret the bond it was selfish of him and controlling of him but he was a pureblood the fact that he hadn’t chained Zero to his bed in an unknown wonderous haven was already pushing his restraint on his primal instincts and desire.

“But I won’t apologise for bonding with you…”

Just the very thought of being so entwined with Zero sent a dizzying beguiling warmth through him, his beast growled its approval as his aura seethed against Zero’s willowy form.

“for us being mates…"

Kaname held Zero tight as if his embrace alone could keep him safe forever, despite the heaviness in Zero’s stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of his body pressed against Kaname.

“It was extremely selfish of me…”

Kaname slowly nosed the beautiful white line of Zero’s throat against the side were the seal was inked into the pale skin. Kaname was glad it was no longer there it was a reminder to him and no doubt to Zero the unrelenting pain and sorrow he felt as he became the thing that he hated the most, a reminder of that harrowing night.

“But you knew that didn’t you?”

He pressed feather soft kisses lips barely grazing against the tempting soft skin the ever-present desire for Zero’s alluring irresistible blood ignited at the pearls of fresh blood sprung from when Zero’s nails bit into the tender delicate skin of his pretty palms. But he cannot hurt Zero... never ever will he do anything that Zero was scared of, being bitten once by Shizuka who was none too gentle about it wanting to inflict pain was traumatising enough. He will never hurt Zero.

“I’m no saint…”

Zero shivered as he felt the hot cloying breath on his neck, then the tender fluttering brush of perfect gorgeous lips burning white hot and lighting every nerve in blinding overwhelming pleasure too much he felt too much… too much… a ragged whimper slipped past his bitten red lips.

“I wanted to tell you when you seemed to accept me…”

Kaname growled at that the lance of pleasure lighted down his spine, all his nerves were pulled taut at that uncharacteristic enticing seductive sound, he felt his beast claw at his insides as his instincts seethed to...

Claim.

Mark.

Take.

Mine.

Claim.

Mark.

Take.

Mine.

Claim.

Mark.

Take.

Mine.

Claim.

Mark.

Take.

Mine.

“wanted to shout it from the rooftop for all the world to hear…”

Zero watched raptured as a small teasing smile adorned Kaname’s glorious visage the small tilt magnifying his otherworldliness he looked at Zero as if nothing else mattered except for right here right now.

“But my love I know not why we ended up here…”

Zero felt breathless at the sincerity reflected in those depthless pools as Kaname continued gently as if he didn’t want to startle Zero.

“My heart beats true…”

Zero dazedly looked at the breath-taking smile stuttering his heart to a stop he didn’t want to take a breath in fear of shattering this rare sight.

“as it did then…”

Kaname’s gently held Zero’s face in his palms what he knew to be love shined through those loving eyes Zero wondered at the golden haze in awe it felt like Kaname was a soothing balm on the bleeding wounds that never closed it was like being with Kaname would bring all he had lost and more. Kaname was an elixir that that sealed his open wounds and jagged frayed edges leaving him for a time oblivious to darkness, immune to its smothering folds that enveloped him every waking moment.

“as it does now…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked what I have written...  
Please check out my other works if it is to your liking...
> 
> Naruto... just irked me with its bullshit ending   
I started writing it because I felt a character from the series needed to seen in a different light...
> 
> I have got one on Solo Leveling... I prefer manga over manhwa but this have piqued my interest...  
Pretty Please~ I could use some encouragement...  
Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Kaname sighed things were going to be difficult now, it seemed Zero agreed as he felt Zero grab his shoulders deceptively soft hands twisting into the fabric of his clothes using him as leverage to slowly rise to his feet. Kaname quietly allowed Zero who was strong, stronger than anyone he had ever known to compose himself as he stood up and away from him in one swift move, thankfully Zero had tilted away from him because seeing him slowly rise up and off of him dangerously close, tempting him further, would have probably snapped his slipping control.

Kaname was bemused it seemed Zero’s love for maddeningly loose clothes that slipped and clung across his beautiful form was an old one, he remembered and felt the smug gratification of being the only one to see his Zero the terrifying rude hunter in such an intimate way, not even the Chairman and Yuuki ever saw Zero so disarmed always either in his uniform or non-descript everyday wear.

Zero’s eyes had turned glassy like the sheen of a glacial lake with a far off look in his face, Kaname silently stood up with every intention to embrace Zero gently before he froze in his tracks as he saw the blood soaked back of the white shirt dyeing it completely red, blood speckled the silver locks of his Zero like rubies encased in quicksilver, trails of blood trickled down deceptively delicate calves pooling at the exquisite pretty toes and seeping down to the delicate arch of his graceful feet, the moonlight pale skin shrouded in flaming crimson.

There was nothing more beautiful than Zero in Kaname’s eyes, no matter how many would digress, Zero was the only thing that was beautiful, perfect, his everything. His mouth dried as he looked riveted at the bewitching sight, the scent of the copious amount of blood alighting the ever-present thirst for Zero, only Zero, aflame.

But the pained expression and quiet panic in that visage that held him captive sent a wave of icy daggers piercing his heart, he silently closed the small distance between them as his hands hovered over Zero’s back not touching, in an instant the blood cascading down disappeared without a trace as the red of the blood bled out to a startlingly pristine white, the shirt now dry and uncrumpled, Zero’s skin was now devoid of the viscous, cold blood.

The droplets of blood that studded those silver strands of hair disappeared, the articles of clothing Zero wore were pristine and untarnished, the uncomfortable sensation of wet, clinging fabric now replaced by airy warm threads against Zero. Zero didn’t seem to notice the rather incredible act but he however did notice Kaname’s arm circling around his waist gently as Kaname pressed a feather light kiss atop his head as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Zero relaxed into the warm embrace as if the entirety of himself had exhaled in sharp relief. Zero hesitantly took a small step towards the open door, knowing what waited him the tragic sight that haunted him so many years now he was to witness it again knowing it was not a dream, that the blood spilled was as present as the blood coursing through his veins, his mother and father lay there, dead.

Kaname held him steady and comforting, mirroring his motions so he remained in his arms unseparated for even a fleeting moment. Zero’s slowly crept out to the corridor, Kaname a lingering comforting shadow, he knew it must be awkward for Kaname who was easily a head taller in this time, but still Kaname didn’t so much as shift slightly as he moved along with him. Stupid Kaname always so goddamn perfect. Zero shook himself from his rose-coloured musings as the colour drained from his face leaving him deathly pale wane and corpse like, he didn’t want to climb down the stairs not when he knew what awaited him. 

Kaname didn’t nudge him push at him to take a step didn’t do anything other than tighten his gentle hold and press further into his back, Zero shivered flushing at the close proximity and how divine the elegant lines of Kaname’s body felt against him. The golden shimmering haze settled over him like ecstasy given form, the indefinable coil of pleasure sparked through his body as pleasure unreal fogged up his weary fearful mind.

Still Zero breathed the slightest bit easy Kaname’s reassuring immovable presence easing his taut form, his heart stuttered as his resolve strengthened he could break down and crumble later, later with Kaname on his side, now he had to go take in his parents one last time and make peace with their loss, their death.

Zero broke into a cold sweat even as the gritty hardness the unwavering fire he was known for surged in amethyst flames as his clammy feet made its way down the winding stairs he stared at the walls the bittersweet feeling of seeing his home, he could never consider Cross Academy as home for home was the hazy distant days spent with his family unbroken and whole, thus he merely saw the Academy as something that housed him.

Now he realised with startling clarity as he eased his way down the cold polished stairs that home had become Kaname, when he knew not but home was Kaname. This revelation was not surprising the easy acceptance as if this was not a new discovery stopped him mid step, he tilted his head up to gaze at Kaname only to have his vision flooded with the surreal enchanting fae like beauty of Kaname, the iridescent sparkling orbs gazing down at him captivating him, the sense of belonging catching his breath.

Yes, yes indeed, Kaname was home.

Zero blushed unable to stop the blood from flooding his cheeks at the questioning stare, Zero cursed his paler than moonlight skin that even the slightest flush was as obvious as a neon sign. Kaname was clearly still creepily staring at him with his stupid beaut_-_ _he meant_ creepy eyes he glared at him just for good measure as he flited through the last few steps.

He came to grinding halt as he finally saw the despairing sight before him, he felt his heart shatter maybe it was because he had gone through this before, the blinding anger just simmered receding allowing the unbearable feeling of loss and sadness to surface consuming him. The grief was old and still stung like the first taste he got of that unrelenting feeling he staggered back Kaname’s reassuring form easily cradling him in his sorrow.

Zero looked at the utter wanton carnage and destruction left in the wake of Shizuka’s dance of death, Zero’s heart stuttered at the painfully young faces of his mother and father the serenity in their expression made it seem like they were just quietly slumbering.

He watched with unseeing eyes not even feeling his legs give out from under him, Kaname tightened his hold, gently easing him as Kaname gracefully settled on the last step arranging Zero close as he settled Zero on his lap.

The glorious effervescence of the golden viscous threads of the bond between them gently ran through them, a note of melodic sorrow, rang through it making the pleasure bittersweet and melancholic.

Zero looked really looked at his mother’s and father’s face hungrily tracing their features taking every single detail, committing burning it all into his remarkable memory, they were beautiful to Zero even in death. 

His father’s silver hair strewn about around him like a halo. His mother’s dark obsidian hair a stark contrast, but just as beautiful. They were entangled in each other. Zero’s eyes burned and tears fell down his face in quick succession but he was too lost at the sight of them to notice it. He could almost envision it, his mother and father fighting as long as there was still a breath left in them. Withstanding Shizuka’s cruel taunting and words designed to send them over the brink of madness.

Zero’s glassy gaze and hitched sobs resounded in the unnatural silence. Kaname soothingly traced circles on Zero’s back, knowing Zero needed to grieve to mourn all that he had lost all over again.

He stared ahead at the young couple knowing that their deaths came sooner because he had set Shizuka free from her cage free to go about her righteous revenge.

He had confessed to Zero during one of those long gruelling sessions where plan after plan was made to deal with Rido Kuran,

but the seething anger and violence he had come to expect from Zero didn’t surface just a lost fragile look in those expressive eyes,

he saw his heart shatter once more before a quiet bitter mutter of,

_“It was only a matter of time either way…” _

_“Their deaths were never a question of if but when” _

_“Shizuka wouldn’t have stopped her vengeance just because she was kept in her gilded cage” _

_“Don’t beat yourself over it, Kuran”_

_“I think my mother and father knew that too…”_

Zero gazed at the eyes that were once vibrant with life and danced with light, now they were vacant and dull snuffed out of the light that once shone so clearly. The once healthy and youthful complexion the slight flush of blood on their pale skin was now waxy and wane with a hit of blue.

The arms that held him tight and from where he found solace when he was sad or lost or just because, that wrapped him in warmth and security now lay haphazardly like a doll with its strings cut askew and lifeless.

The limbs of a puppet on life’s stage whose fate had been cut short. The splatters of blood splashed artfully and the truly large pool of blood like a circle of dark oozing red was strangely beautiful in its desolation.

Even with all this, staring at their lifeless forms and having already lived through this and their loss acutely felt in those desperate years, he cannot believe they are gone, gone. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Kaname stared straight ahead at the space above the cold corpses he felt conflicted he swore never to do that again not when it clearly was something they didn’t desire. But he will ask Zero it is the least he can do it would torment him if he didn’t speak up didn’t offer Zero the seemingly impossible choice.

* * *

Realising that their Ichiru, their flesh, blood, and life, had wanted them dead, so they died, died, died all over again.

What could hurt more than knowing he wanted them to. They had dragged their broken bodies, the acceptance that death had arrived and its cold embrace would lull them to the peace and quiet they so desperately desired from the carnage and blood they left in their wake in the name of protecting. The lines had blurred and it had hurt to see all they believed in and stood for be tainted like it had.

They wished for one thing, Zero to never be a hunter.

They had wanted to take the reins of his ‘education’ as they called it. Yagari meant well, but he was too set in his ways, to see how, what they had once stood for had degraded into a shamble of a farce. They had told him that Zero will no longer be under his tutelage. Yagari had been heartbroken at that. But they informed him, in no uncertain terms, Zero will not be a hunter. Yagari became noticeably colder at that. They didn’t offer any reasons. He didn’t ask for any.

They had prepared all they could for Zero and Ichiru for their inevitable death. They didn’t want them to be the Association’s lapdogs. They needed to know that the relationship between hunters and vampires are more complex than kill each other when you see one. They knew humanity’s worst enemy will always be humanity itself.

The Kiryuu’s are the elite of the elite, they were shrouded in mystery with more than a few skeletons in their closet. Ichiru, their beloved child, had hated them enough to plot their demise. They could see that he held even greater resentment towards Zero.

Zero was such a pure child, so very kind. Ichiru was always cunning, it had been something that made them proud. Knowing Ichiru would survive whatever the world threw at him. Zero, on the other hand, charmed them into a love unlike any they felt, for his innocence and gentle nature, the kind that would still last in this cruel world. They loved him for his purity that was enduring even in the face of adversary.

Zero would understand. Zero would realise. If he is to survive the calamitous event that had broken their happy bubble, they would provide him with the tools to survive, to live. Moments before their death, they had gazed into the love of their life’s eyes, and consequently removed Ichiru from all fail safes.

Now Zero will be the only one who will be able to access them. They couldn’t be taken forcefully from him by anyone not even Ichiru and because of Zero’s bleeding heart, they will not allow anyone, even if Zero was willing to, attain anything. Zero was too naïve, they would protect him as much as they could. Ichiru would not rest until Zero’s dead. They will be his sword and shield.

Even if Ichiru’s death is the only option.

Others would probably say they didn’t love Ichiru, that couldn’t be further from the truth. But they are intimately familiar with the fact, just because you loved someone, didn’t mean they wouldn’t hurt you. Life had taught them that painful lesson over and over and over again. Such is the life of a hunter.

Zero will live, not just survive, they wouldn't allow such a pathetic fate for their child so help them god, but truly live in whatever way he wants to. He won’t be a lapdog for the Association, where morals no longer held any meaning. They know full well that they were no saints, both have dealt with enough people in morally bankrupt ways to achieve what they want. That’s why Zero was precious.

They didn’t care if Zero decided to go on a killing spree, hunting humans, vampires, hunters alike as long as he is his own master as long as he is happy. Ichiru had found some calling, beside Shizuka it seems. Zero will find his if he wants to, but he will always have them. Now in death, they feared that all they can do if Zero was taken before he had awoken here was nothing. He wouldn’t come back again. And all will be lost.

They lingered behind the veil of death, waiting as the pull grew stronger. But they lingered, Souls linked with each other. They saw their bodies, that lay still and motionless painted red.

Blood, it always comes down to it, didn’t it?

They smiled at each other at that.

They still waited, Zero was alive they hoped. They remained silent as time ticked by slowly but surely. They then heard tiny feet flitting through the stairs in a hurry, the fast pace surprising them. It meant their precious Zero was not direly hurt.

Curious, how very curious but they were glad for whatever had spared him the pain. They turned to look at each other as the steps got closer. They watched as their little silver haired angel came to a stop.

Though their eyes narrowed at the being standing close behind Zero, so close, it seemed like there was no distance between them. It was a pureblood, one that was not Shizuka. That was not as comforting as it sounded.

They saw the features of the being, he looked like a Kuran. But his everything seemed to be amped up that the rest of those overpowered lot by an incomprehensible margin. The Kurans were the most superior of the purebloods, a cut above the rest. But they can tell there was something different about this one though even overlooking the fact this one looked only slightly older than their child.

Dangerous, he was dangerous and impossibly powerful.

Their attention switched back to their Zero, when he started crying. They felt a deep sorrow well in them at the sight. They watched as Kuran wrapped his hands around their child’s waist hefting him up gently, making sure Zero was unobstructed from the sight of their bodies. They watched as Kuran gracefully dropped down on the stairs, cradling their child gently, with Zero’s face pressed against his left chest. They watched as Zero allowed the rearranging of his limbs by the pureblood.

Their eyes narrowed further in apprehension as Zero remained surprisingly docile. Their Zero maybe gentle, but they knew his hunter instincts were by far the strongest. There was no way he did not realise what the vampire was, nor did it appear like his senses were blaring alarm bells, tensing his body.

* * *

Kaname sighed the sound was unreasonably loud in the still silence, Zero looked up at Kaname there was an uncharacteristic grimace and frown on Kaname’s face. Zero was concerned at the conflicting emotion leaving him unsettled, he had enough emotion turmoil for a lifetime but still it kept surprising him how Kaname evoked these intense blinding emotions from his exhausted soul.

Zero clicked his tongue when Kaname didn’t turn down to face him if there was one thing Zero knew with certainty it was that Kaname’s eyes was always on him whether he wanted to acknowledge the fact or not. He turned to look at what Kaname was staring at, it was his parents’ corpse… no… that didn’t seem right… Kaname was staring straight ahead maybe at the main entrance of his home.

He sighed agitated and tired before resolving to just ask Kaname, he was still no sooner in unravelling the mystery and allure of Kaname even after so many years of varied interactions. Kaname surprised him when he suddenly asked Zero unprompted with an expression Zero couldn’t quite name, it looked like something akin to sadness and anger,

“If you were given a choice, Zero”

He paused as if he was struggling to find the words to say

“…To have them back…”

He held Zero’s gaze solemnly as his eyes darkened sucking the light from the world for one drawn out second.

“Would you?”

Zero felt anger coil in him, what was Kaname saying? Is he trying to make him mad? Well if so, he was succeeding.

Zero spat out still not mustering much venom even though his anger burned cold.

“Of course, I would!”

Kaname cannot ask him something like that, he will never get back what he lost. Their still forms were before them it was final. Death was final. His parents lay still like a beautiful picture, charming even in death.

“They are my parents for fucks sake!”

Kaname looked at him with a complex expression with ardent decadent lips tilted in a barely noticeable smile, beguiling hypnotic orbs shinning with exasperated indulgence.

“I can revive them…”

“Do you want me to?”

“Zero…?”

Kaname looked at him with a tragically beautiful heart-breaking smile fearful and resigned to whatever he expected such a proclamation and confession would invoke from Zero, that soul wrenching look of desolation and otherness looked at him beseechingly and scared.

His Kaname was scared, afraid of something Zero couldn’t comprehend, not of the frankly unbelievable offer but of Zero’s reaction to it. Zero winced as angry sparks of rebuttal and reprimand coursed through leaving a unforgiving trail of lancing scorching pain and frozen artic icicles scouring his nerve endings and penetrating his racing heart.

The bond showed him clearly chastising him for causing Kaname’s distress. Zero quivered under the avalanche of emotions that threatened to drown him in an ocean of helplessness and stunned bewilderedness.

What Kaname was asking of him seemed like such an easy choice to make… but the pit in his stomach and how it plummeted to the ground told him it was not all beds of roses. He asked his throat clamping,

“Y-You m-mean like bri-nging them b-back to life!”

Kaname had that same inhumanly alluring mysterious smile that made Zero want to pull Kaname close, closer than they already were. Kaname replied without much fanfare,

“Yes”

Zero listened dumbfounded at the confident assurance from Kaname. Zero mentally counted down to ten. Praying for patience to handle this, he was angry, so angry. His life is never under his control. No matter how he clawed at the chains restraining him, moving him, pulling him, pushing him every which way.

He was stunned speechless incredulous at the implications he didn't understand how bringing back the death is even an option, it was impossible. it also looked like Kaname wasn' going to spell it out for him, explaining to him on how the hell is he going do this miracle? even if he was a pureblood this was too much to believe. But that's the thing right, he instinctively knew and believed Kaname skipping the explanation and proof. Love makes one blind but it seems it making him into an idiot too for he was not going to ask for an explanation, not now at least.

Here Kaname was offering a choice to literally rewrite a chapter of his life by doing the impossible. Surely Kaname no matter how powerful as the pureblood king couldn’t do something so impossible and unattainable by all of life on this earth.

Zero hesitated fingers twitching, feeling disquieted without the familiar weigh of Bloody Rose by his side, he asked quietly as if he was afraid of breaking this impossible hope if he spoke too soon,

“You can do that?”

Zero needed to think calmly not let his decision be ruled by emotions, he didn’t even know what this… resurrection is going to be like. There simply was no precedent, not that he knew of anyway.

Do they simply come back to life?

Will they carry a mark of their death?

What happens when they come back?

Do they even want to come back?

Zero stilled at the thought, what if his parents simply didn’t want to live once more?

Will death have changed them?

Make them unrecognizable?

Alienate him from them?

He flinched at the harrowing possibility, he asked quietly with a desperation,

“Is there a way I can talk to them?”

The wet sound of a broken sob twisting a knife in Kaname.

“Ask them?”

Zero swallowed as he turned wetly shinny luminous fragile and childlike eyes at Kaname with trembling lips and potent desire. Kaname never one to refuse his beloved, his Zero nodded silently in acquisition.

Kaname felt his heart stop at the miniscule wobbly smile that graced Zero’s lips glistening like dewed blossoms, Kaname didn’t know how much more he could take Zero smiled more in this short span of time on the most tragic of Zero’s nights but still Zero’s usually scowling lips tugged and played his heartstrings expertly, mind soul and body submitting wholly, enthralling him leaving him lost for words for no language was enough no modicum of expression ever enough to convey the all-encompassing, eternal and unconditional.

His Zero.

His Agape. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you all doing well! Please stay safe!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Leave a Kudos and Comment if you like my work!
> 
> Please please please take care of yourselves!

Kaname stilled pulling Zero closer gently holding him like he was afraid he would disappear any moment now. He promised Zero he would go through with it even if it was probably reckless of him to do so, he had to.

He gazed down to meet the worried confused lilac eyes wide and beseeching, gazing at him with a lost expression on the delicate features that he so adored, he looked deeply into those arresting depthless orbs that held him captive from the moment he fell under the mesmerizing gaze.

Zero was worried.

Worried a lot because he didn’t know what to expect. If the day wasn’t already so damn confusing and surreal, he wouldn’t have accepted what Kaname implied without prodding at him studded with a few choice words in the mix when he inevitably lost his cool.

But unfortunately, he had been exposed enough times to Kaname’s strangeness to allow for a calmer response. And frankly he was spent running on fumes after the whirlwind of emotions that stormed wreaking havoc through him.

Kaname turned to look at the macabre but strangely picturesque sight before him, Zero’s parents, people he had never met in the future or the now rewritten past directly before this, lay before him.

Bloody and broken.

Dead.

It was a bitter pill to swallow knowing he was, maybe not directly but was one of the reasons they ended up the way they did. He never expected to fall for Zero not in a million years but he didn’t regret ever falling for Zero.

Did he regret his decision? he could not say, could not afford to feel guilty when it was something he had to do, to keep the convoluted game of life moving, to see through it all.

He could see the faint embers of soft glowing pale white and blue twisting and twirling over the cold corpses, the souls had not dissipated, in fact, Kaname’s eyebrows creased with dawning realization it seemed like the will o’ wisps were moving against the pull of the veil that was no doubt beguiling and coaxing the spirits to come into death’s unseen domain with the eternal promise of rest and peace.

Their spirits so were waiting anchoring themselves here, were here for a reason strong enough to move against the current. But Kaname knew death in one form or another was inevitable to all that existed, he allowed her free reign and that reign would not end until he willed otherwise.

His garnet sanguine flaming orbs turned a vibrant crystalline violet such an unnatural shade with violaceous wisps of light and minuscule stardust floated radiating around the effervescence etching into Kaname’s ever glowing skin, the soft luminescent glow growing brighter under his skin.

Lines and patterns growing and dancing along the gorgeous skin an endless dance and serenade across the landscape of dewy flawless pallor.

Zero startled at the changes occurring morphing changing every moment, he held his breath in, he did not know what the hell was happening. He gasped in shock feeling a little faint this was feeling less and less like reality and more and more like the twilight zone.

Kaname turned to look at him with those unreal eyes the sclera taken over by the blinding glow of amaranthine had Zero holding his breath dazed and riveted… Kaname was beautiful.

Zero flushed a deep red at how special it made him feel to see Kaname look at him with that expression the one that felt too intimate and was just too much for Zero’s heart.

His heart stuttered to a stop when Kaname closed in on him close enough that his lips hovered over his eyes, the hot mist of breath that was scented similar to what he knew Kaname tasted like, like that glorious rich decadent blood he could still feel the undercurrent not really an undercurrent more like tsunami of power of what was uniquely Kaname just Kaname.

Kaname felt his lips twitched up at the wide-eyed look in those eyes he so adored he knew he probably shouldn’t tease his Zero so much because on any other day he would most likely get socked in the face multiple times by this point.

But Kaname was nothing if not resourceful, anyway he could get close to Zero he will take it. His lips hovered over fluttering lilac silver eyelids pressing a kiss on the air above each lid not touching Zero.

He covered Zero’s eyes under his palms allowing the smile that graced his lips to linger because Zero won’t hit him if he can’t see it. He sighed Zero was going to be much more of reckless rebellious self once he got settled in this new environment.

The ease at which Zero accepted his embrace and touches was going to be a fond but distant memory for a time in the future where Kaname would court Zero in the earnest. 

Zero blushed prettily again causing a helpless smile to cross Kaname face the scene was sweet and adorable when seen from the outside but that’s not what Zero’s father saw at all.

He was going to club this bastard who was taking far too much liberty with his precious angel, who was this brat? who just trapezed in and was holding his baby like Zero was his.

God, did he want to be alive more than ever just so he could put this upstart in his place.

Zero would have been mortified if he realised, he was being this affectionate with his significant other in front of his parents who were watching.

Zero’s mother on the other hand was looking at the scene with keen eyes sharp and open to the possibilities and what she was seeing but one wrong move she would claw her way back from the dead and teach this boy a lesson he wouldn’t soon forget.

A drop of blood spilt from her baby she would go on a rampage but break his heart she would go ballistic with the rage of a mother.

Kaname turned to look at the twirling embers of light before his purple violet gaze turned brighter, a blinding kaleidoscope of colours and hues before dissipating.

The intricate beautiful web of shifting patterns receded under his glowing skin now the skin was back to the luminescent unnatural but subtle glow that could illuminate his form in darkness but not the strobe like brightness that this change had brought.

His spilling with violaceous light orbs turned to the familiar flames and blood coloured garnet gaze but with the slightest hint of mauve shading the glint of light giving an ominous seductive light to those unmistakable eyes.

Kiryuu Akira and Kiryuu Yua felt the veil slowly relinquish the hold it had on them still lingering unseen but no longer a siren’s song that they were finding harder and harder to resist as time went by.

Zero snapped his head towards the source of a chill in the air a shimmer of mist as if the air in front of him was being warped and distorted, silver light streamed into the space morphing and changing until finally a man and a woman appeared, a man and a woman he recognised.

Zero shuddered as his eyes prickled at the sight of translucent shimmering apparitions that were now in front of him, his mother and father. The silence that fell was unnatural and the whole place stilled.

“Mama…?”

He chocked out the words that were stuck in the depths of his heart it hurt to breathe it was a struggle to speak but he had to ask had to know this wasn’t just a hallucination.

“…Papa?”

Dressed in a long-sleeved white v collared shirt with black pants was the tall man with silver hair and pale skin similar to Zero, his father.

Kiryuu Akira sharp lilac eyes narrowed as he realised he was somehow in a form his precious child can see, no doubt it was that strange Kuran’s doing. He was a very beautiful man whose features were classically Kiryuu.

Kiryuu Yua molten silver eyes hungrily took in her child her long elegant fingers twitching at her side to touch her baby, the now disembodied instincts of a Hunter echoing through her with a warning as it realised how close he was to Kuran.

She was a beautiful woman with the poise and grace that matched her husband.

They didn’t even get a chance to think when Zero came barrelling into them tiny feet propelling him up and into their awaiting arms. Before Zero can draw in the air his body needed, he had melted into their forms, he could feel their hands folding around his back drawing him closer.

He felt his body quiver from the tears mourning for the time missed that he will never get back sobbing to release the tension of these long years of pain and sorrow.

He feels familiar kind hands against his cheeks the callouses from the many years of hunting wielding the hard cold metal of their favoured weapons dragging against his soft soft skin even the roughness was more comforting than any he felt other than when he found solace in Kaname.

He looked up to see his father’s and mother’s face the reassuring lilac gaze of his father and the kind amber eyes of his mother warming a part of him that he thought he had lost once upon this very night.

“Shhh my baby it’s alright now mommy is here”

She wiped away his tears rubbing his ruddy cheeks and nose looking at Zero wide amethyst orbs a shade that neither her husband nor Ichiru possessed. She was pleased to see they were still glowing with vitality and life still.

Though the moment was short lived as Akira wasted no time pushing her over, conveniently forgetting the fact she had just died just so he could grab their baby and drag him into his arms.

The smug smile he flashed her when Zero burrowed into him at the contact made her want to tackle the bastard and send him throttling back to the afterlife.

“Daddy’s got you now Zero…”

Yua resisted the urge to facepalm at him but resisted the urge as her gaze fell on the otherworldly boy before her. Kuran.

She felt uncomfortable feeling naked without her dagger beside her it lay next to where her body was but it felt wrong to take it now, she was tired of the fighting the violence that was never too far away when you were a hunter.

And she had an inkling even she in her prime would not be able to take down the behemoth of a threat that was standing before her, she didn’t think the combined forces of Akira and her would be enough. She did not know his intentions and trust did not come so easily to people like themselves but she will give credit where credit is due nothing more nothing less.

She cleared her throat the sound rough as she thought on how to approach this, she didn’t know how to initiate any conversation with the boy. She had a feeling he wouldn’t appreciate being talked to as a kid even though he looked like one. The boy sure was beautiful like drop dead gorgeous the most beautiful person human or not she had ever seen.

There was something… different about this pureblood she didn’t know what and that raised her hackles up. Since he was obviously a Kuran, probably the scion and heir and that meant he was the pureblood prince.

The only legitimate authority any pureblood had on all of the vampire race pureblood or otherwise.

Though the creation of the Council seemed to have diminished the extent of control the Kurans had, it was never that simple with vampire politics. The Council was created by the Kurans and they could just as easily do away with it.

Akira looked at Yua who was looking intently at Kuran with the blank expressionless face she had when she was analysing an interesting situation before her. 

Akira looked at the boy narrowing his eyes scowling as he tried to crack the impassive blank slate Kuran’s face had become, the boy was much more at ease with Zero but it seemed that did not extend to them.

He wanted to know how the kid did the impossible even if it was not exactly bringing them back from the dead it was still something in the realms of impossibility.

More than the how he wanted to know the why, why was this powerful pureblood reaching out and helping a family of hunters especially at the risk of slighting another pureblood by aiding them?

Though he was sure it wasn’t simply because of Kuran’s goodness of heart but because of their Zero that Kuran was helping them. Akira felt uneasy about the exact nature of the relationship between

Zero and Kuran, they were very... close too close in fact.

He had been sure they had been keeping a careful eye over their twins but being completely blindsided by Ichiru they did not know what to expect.

Kuran looked at them directly when their gaze fell on him, there was no hesitance nothing they could read from the cool enthralling gaze.

What peculiar eyes.

The frustration mounted as Kuran chose to remain silent simply gazing at them and meeting their gaze unflinchingly head on before the anxiety could boil over thankfully Zero had collected himself well enough to act as the mediator.

Zero loosened his grip on his father shimming out the hold his father had on him unconsciously moving closer to Kaname relaxing further as his arms touched Kaname’s side. Kaname’s arm twisted to rest on his waist loosely.

Zero looked to meet his mother and father eyes brimming with emotion and unspoken words resolve and acceptance for whatever may happen shinning in those amethyst hues.

The words came out in a quiet voice a silent thing that sounded far too broken and feeble that it surprised and hurt Akira’s and Yua’s heart like they had been killed once again.

“I love you both so very much…”

“Please never doubt that”

“I love you!”

“…love you”

“love you…”

“God do I love you…”

Yua felt her eyes burn at the look in her baby’s eyes those lovely orbs looked the same as they did just a few hours before but they had still changed so much. The darkness that shadowed those eyes, the misery and pain that ghosted through every move and breath her baby took.

The burden not of one night gone tragically gone wrong but years and years of pain and sorrow that had accumulated making the burden so heavy she wondered how her baby’s heart and back didn’t break and give out under the weight and strain. She knew then indeed her baby was strong stronger than anyone she had ever met.

She was heartbroken and so very proud.

Akira clenched his fists in a white knuckled grip as he read the distressing emotions his wife had red in his child.

Who?

Who?

Who?

Who the fuck was it?

That hurt his child. His finger twitched to take his sword and go on a war path for his baby.

He felt like such a failure of a parent first Ichiru his smart sweet Ichiru actually hated no hate was too nice a word resented them both enough to scheme with a pureblood and get them all killed.

How did he miss that?

How did they miss that?

And now, now his beautiful Zero held so much pain in his crystalline eyes that were too old too tired and sorrowful to belong to a child.

Their child he had sheltered Zero as best as he could showered him with love and affection and Zero was a happy child but maybe he read Zero wrong as well after all he had been wrong about Ichiru.

Zero looked at them with tired eyes full of love as he asked hesitant and dazed,

“I know you have many question…”

“…But I need you to trust me”

“I will answer all of them in due time”

His face turned grave belying his age and experience as he looked at them hard the vampire hunter in him emerging, the hunter with a record number Level E kills and a pureblood in his list coming out.

“Mama…”

“Papa…”

He looked at Kaname to gain strength even if he felt absurd saying this out loud and actually believing the fantastical words of Kaname but it was Kaname so he believed without a shred of doubt.

He took in a deep breath closing his eyes to find the strength to continue before snapping them open eyes steely with resolve and hardness, sharp and cold.

He continued in a voice that held the quietest note of his desperation that he couldn’t quite hide.

“…Do you want to live again?” 


End file.
